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THE 



APOCATASTASIS 



PROGRESS BACKWARDS 



A NEW "TRACT FOR THE TIMES." 



n«v os to xivoujxsvov, jcgci %povou jxsrs^ov, aiSiov ov, ^p^rai tfspio^ois, *a i 
flrepio^wojg avaxoxksi-ai x.0.1 a<ffoxa'hi^a<rai gmto ruv avruv eiri ra aura 
(5-/]Xovoti. Proclus, Institut. Theol. C. cxcriii. 

Translation. — Whatever, having a permanent being, ( folly for instance, ) 
nevertheless partakes of the vicissitudes of time, and is moveable, useth periods, 
is circularly moved, and manifestly, hath its Apocatastasis from the same to 
the same. 



BY THE AUTHOR. 



BURLINGTON: 

CHAUNCEY GOODRICH 

1854. 






Entered according to act of Congress, by 
CHAUNCEY GOODRICH, 

In the Clerk's Office in the District of Vermont in the year 1854. 



CHAPTER I. 

Fata quoque, et vitas hominum suspendit ab astris. 

Manilii Astronomicon, iii. 58. 

Afspsg oupavioi, Nuxtos <piXa rsxva fjisXaiv^, 
syxvxkiots (Jivyjtfi ifspifyovioi xuxheovrsg, 
avrawysig, ifvposwes, ast yevs-^psg aifavruv 
fxoipi&oi, iratfris [Lmpt)c, Ci-jfJiavropss ovrsg' 
6vr\Tuv uv6pw<iruv 6sir]v distfovreg arapifov: 
sX^st', Orphica H. vii. 3-7. 

Ye stars celestial ! Children of black Night, 

Wheeling, enthroned sublime, in circling Orbs, 

Effulgent, genitors of all events, 

Who Fate obey, and who all fates dispose, 

Their lot appointing unto mortal men, 

All hail ! 



" The sun ariseth, and the sun goeth down, and hasteth to 
his place where he arose. The wind goeth toward the south and 
turneth about unto the north, it whirleth about continually ; 
and the wind returneth again according to his circuits. All 
the rivers run into the sea, yet the sea is not full ; unto the 
place from whence the rivers came, thither they return again. 



The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be : and that 
which is clone is that which shall be clone ; and there is no 
new thing under the sun. Is there anything whereof it may 
be said, See, this-is new ? it hath been already of old time, 
which was before us." (Solomon.) 

The Preacher, doubtless, speaks truth here, yet he speaks 
somewhat superficially, or as a mere outside observer. He 
does not unveil the causes, and announce to us the Law in 
obedience to Avhich all terrestrial things not only " flow" but 
revolve, evermore moving onward, and onward, without let or 
stay, yet evermore returning, and coming round, full circle, to 
the points through which, before, many times, it may be, they 
have already passed. Perhaps he had not investigated the' 
subject, — being of pretty extensive business engagements — 
and having, besides, much other literary work on hand : or 
perhaps the mere " weariness to the flesh," induced by " much 
study," which extorted " vanity of vanities ! all is vanity !" 
"of making books there is no end," may have made him con- 
tent to assert the bare fact, of the incessant and stale iteration 
of things, while he was not in the mood to go into explanations, 
which, nevertheless, he may have been very competent to give. 
His silence, however, from whatever cause it may have origi- 
nated, is the less to be regretted, because other wise men have 
spoken fully to the point which Solomon overlooked or neglec- 
ted. 

" The blessed body which revolves in a circle, (the visible 
heavens,) is the cause of the events in the sublunary world. 
For both are parts of the universe, and they have a certain 
relation to each other. If, therefore, the cause of generation 
in the things which surround us, originates in the natures 
which are above us, it follows that the seeds of things which 
happen here, descend from thence. . And if some one should 
add, since astronomy gives credibility to this, that there are 
apocatastatic periods of the stars and spheres, some of which 
are simple but others compounded, such a one will partly ac- 
cord with the Egyptians, and partly with the Grecians. A 
man of this kind, therefore, will not deny that in consequence 



5 

of the same motions returning, effects also will return togeth- 
er with their causes ; and that lives on the earth, generations, 
educations, dispositions and fortunes, will be the same with 
those that formerly existed." (Synesius de Providentia.) — 
These apocatastatic periods (tspioSoi, completed revolutions,) of 
the stars or spheres are of several kinds, as intimated in the 
above extract, and of course come round at different intervals. 
Two of the heavenly bodies may come to have the same rela- 
tive position to each other which they had at some preceding 
time ; as when the earth, at any given point of its orbit, has 
the same relation to the sun which it had a year before ; — or 
the earth, sun, and moon ; or these with one, or with more 
than one, of the planets, may come to the same relative posi- 
tion which they have been in before, and this, happening at 
different intervals for each combination of bodies, will be, for 
each combination, their apocatastatic period. Or the entire 
number of astronomical bodies may come to the same relative 
position they have had before. "The end therefore of the 
mundane year is, when all the planets and all the fixed stars 
have returned from a certain place to the same place, so that 
no star in the heavens may be situated in a place different 
from that in which it was before. ****** This, however,, 
according to the decision of physiologists, will take place at 
the expiration of 15,000 years. * * * * This year, therefore, 
is called the truly revolving year" &c. (Macrobius, in Somn. 
Scip. lib. ii.) 

According to Firmicius, (Mathesis lib. iii) this is called the 
greater apocatastasis, and consists of 300,000 years. If then 
we suppose this period to commence from the present position 
of the heavens, all events on the earth for the next 300,000 
years, or 15,000 years, the difference is not much, will be iden- 
tically the same that .they have been for the last 300,000, or 
15,000 years. The successive apocatastatic periods of smaller 
numbers of heavenly bodies, instead of producing the same, 
will produce similar sublunary events, and these will be like 
in proportion to the number and sameness of siderial powers 
which combine to produce them. So much, and it would seem 



6 

to be sufficient, as of unquestionable authority, we may rely 
upon, without the aid of Solomon, in explanation of his asser- 
tion of the perpeutual reiteration of things under the sun. 
But not only are these periods different in duration, but they 
are different in the character and quality of the terrestrial 
effects they produce ; the periods of different stars or combi- 
nations of stars, bringing about different results, — those of 
the same, the same, or similar results. " Not only with respect 
to terrestrial plants, but likewise in terrestrial animals, a fertil- 
ity and sterility of soul as well as of body takes place, when the 
revolutions of the heavenly bodies complete the periphery of 
their respective orbits ; which are shorter to the shorter lived, 
and contrarywise to such as are the contrary." (Plato, de Re^ 
publica, viii.) That is, the apocatastatic periods of some stars 
are shorter, and of others longer ; those of some are periods 
of sterility and degeneracy of men, animals, and plants ; 
those of others, periods of fertility and excellence. Thus, 
though the great cycle of 300,000 years is constantly repeat- 
ing itself with ail its same sublunary events, this does not pre- 
vent that it may include within itself many smaller revolutions 
which repeat themselves, with their similar terrestrial results, 
at various intervals ; in fact it consists of these shorter circum- 
volutions : " With centric and eccentric scribbled o'er, 

Cycle and epicycle, orb in orb." 
witness, as the celestial orbs revolve, and come to their various 
apocatastatic positions,the constant repetition of night and day ; 
the return of similar seasons ; the emergence from barbarism, 
the culmination, and the decay, of nations — return to the same 
point of barbarism from whence they started ; and this process 
repeating itself perpetually in the same nations, the several 
mutations exhibiting essentially the same phases at each suc- 
cessive revolution. Yet these historico-dramatic exhibitions 
of terrestrial events will be the same with a difference, — the 
players are different, or if they are the same (Plato, de Repub. 
Lib. X) they are, unfortunately, not permitted to remember 
how they played before ; and then in every large but partial 
cycle there may be some adjacent body which holds a different 



relation to it at different revolutions ; or some interloping 
comet may cross the orbit of the period, modifying or disloca- 
ting its history at some points. We are not, therefore, to un- 
derstand Solomon quite literally. "We are not to expect, in 
comparing one partial apocatastatic period with another, or 
rather, the same period with itself in its successive revolutions, 
to find, in earthly relations, an exact parallel and identity. It 
is sufficient if we recognize a strong family likeness, a charac- 
teristic resemblance in most things, although there may be de- 
cided otherness in others, owing to temporary, accidental dis- 
turbing influences. Or single traits of the most decided simi- 
larity may characterize two successive periods, traits which 
may be quite accidental, and foreign to their true physiognomy 
and which may disappear in the third ; as where the tails of 
two different but equal comets happen to pass severally across 
the same portion of their orbit during the two contiguous revo- 
lutions. In order to ascertain, in regard to two historical 
periods which remind us of one another, whether they are really 
apocatastatic, it is not always necessary to consult the astrono- 
mers, or the astrological doctors, to know whether their begin- 
nings coincide chronologically with the apocatastatic position, 
and as it were, meeting in conclave, of the same celestial nota- 
bilities ; it will be sufficient to determine by inspection whether 
they both belong to Plato's periods, either of fertility or of 
sterility, that is, whether they are both fertile or both barren 
periods in the Platonic sense. And by way of example and 
specimen of such periods, and of the proper method of detecting 
them, I will make a quotation from a most learned and very 
extraordinary man, one peculiarly well qualified to have an 
opinion in such abstruse matters, a sort of christian heathen, 
in the midst of Christendom in the nineteenth century, a man 
who honestly and manfully went over from Jehovah to Jupiter, 
a Julian on a small scale. Listen to his profession of faith in 
a Note on the following passage in his translation of Marinus' 
Life of Proclus. " But he purified himself every month, by 
the sacred rites in honour of the mother of the gods, celebrated 
by the Romans, and prior to them by the Phrygians : he like- 



wise more diligently observed the unfortunate days of the 
Egyptians, than they themselves ; and besides this, fasted on 
certain clays in a peculiar manner on account of the lunar ap- 
pearances." So far from the Life ; — the Note is as follows : 
" A genuine modern will doubtless consider the whole of Pro- 
clus' religious conduct as ridiculously superstitious. And so? 
indeed, at first sight, it appears ; but he who has penetrated 
the depths of ancient wisdom, will find in it more than meets 
the vulgar ear. The religion of the Heathens, has indeed, for 
many centuries, been the object of ridicule and contempt ; yet 
the author of the present work is not ashamed to own, that he 
is a perfect convert to it in every particular, so far as it was 
understood and illustrated by the Pythagoric and Platonic 
Philosophers." I have called the author of the above an extra- 
ordinary man, not because a christian heathen is anything ex- 
traordinary at the present time, they are thick as autumn 
leaves, but because few of them have the magnanimity to re- 
nounce their baptism, and profess publicly their adhesion to the 
" Dii Majores et gentium." I desire, however, to take this 
occasion to acknowledge my obligations to the gentleman in 
question, — not for his heathenism but for his learning — for I 
shall often, in the course of this work, find it muehmore conve- 
nient to use his translations than to make them for myself, be- 
sides that, in many cases, the originals are not within my 
reach. "Where I cannot avail myself of his aid I must not be 
expected to translate with his admirable closeness to the origi- 
nal ; I shall however hope to give the true meaning of the pas- 
sages cited, or where I am in doubt I will give the original 
itself. Such show of learning is not to my taste, but in the 
present instance, as the reader will perceive bye and bye, it 
appears to be unavoidable. But to the promised quotation. — 
" The different periods in which these mutations happen, are 
called by Plato, with great propriety, periods of fertility and 
sterility ; for in these periods a fertility or sterility of men, 
irrational animals, and plants, takes place ; so that in fertile 
periods mankind will be both more numerous, and upon the 
whole, superior in mental and bodily endowments, to the men 



of a barren period. And a similar reasoning must be exten- 
ded to animals and plants. The so much celebrated heroic age 
-was the result of one of these fertile periods, in which men, 
transcending the herd of mankind, both in practical and intel- 
lectual virtue, abounded on the earth. And a barren period 
may be considered as having commenced somewhat prior to 
the Augustan age, the destruction of all the great cities, with 
all their rites, philosophy, (fee, being the natural consequence 
of such a period. It appears to me that this period commenced 
in the time of Sylla, and I found this opinion on the following 
passage in Plutarch's life of that great commander. " But 
the greatest of all (the signs prior to the civil wars) was the 
following : On a cloudless and clear day, the sound of^a trum- 
pet was heard, so acute, and mournful, as to astonish and 
terrify by its loudness, all that heard it. The Tuscan wise 
men and soothsayers, therefore, declared that this prodigy sig- 
nified the mutation into, and commencement of another age. — 
For, according to them, there are eight ages, differing from 
each other in lives and manners, each of which is limited by 
divinity to a certain time of duration, and the number of years 
of which this time consists is bounded by the period of the 
great year. Hence when one age is finished, and another is 
about to commence, a certain wonderful sign will present itself, 
either from the earth or the heavens. The moumfulness of 
this sound of the trumpet was evidently an indication that a 
barren period was about to commence." (Thomas Taylor, 
Translation of Firmicius, Note d.) 

Thus we find the weight of authority in favor of the control- 
ing influence of apocatastatic periods to be very great, and w e 
need no longer be in doubt in regard to the reasons of the it- 
erations of things earthly. "We see too why the smaller cy- 
cles of events may repeat themselves with a difference, for 
only the " greater apocatastasis" can have all its relation 
identically the same. It is manifest too, that the same apo- 
catastatic series may take place in one part of the earth in one 
period, and in another part of it in the next period. For, sup- 
pose the earth itself not to be one of the celestial bodies whose 



10 

return to their apocatastatic position is to give character to the 
period in question ; it follows that the earth may be in differ- 
ent parts of its annual orbit, and of its diurnal revolution, at 
the two successive apocatastatic moments or points of time, 
that is, for I wish to be understood, at the instant of one apo- 
catastatic position of the stars that rule the period, the earth 
may be in one place, and at the next apocatastasis of the same 
stars, in another place. Hence, plainly, if the "seeds of 
things which happen here descend from thence," and the apo- 
catastatic moment is the seed-time ; the seeds which descend 
may, at different apocatastases, fall upon different parts of the 
earth's surface ; so that events which before happened in one 
hemisphere, may have their second rehearsal in the other ; or 
what was before in one longitude may have its next event in 
another. Hence, too, the same specific events, products of the 
same "seeds," may exhibit widely differing varieties at the 
different plantings ; just as specifically the same tree in Italy 
will differ from itself in America and that at the base of, a 
mountain will be quite unlike itself at the top. 

But whither, quoth the practical reader, does this talk tend ? 
Do you not, then, immediately perceive, my sagacious friend, 
that its direction is towards the most practical results imagi- 
nable 1 For, if it were made known to you that on Wednes- 
day next you were to start a journey, would you not be looking 
afteryour trunks 1 Or if a voyage were announced, would you 
not hasten to provide sea stores ? Does not the husbandman, 
in winter, make ready for the joyous labors of spring, because 
he knows that the apocatastasis of the earth and sun will then 
open his fields for cultivation ? Does not the merchant raise 
his wharves above the ordinary level of the Ocean, and even 
above that of everyday tides, because he foresees that the re- 
turn of the Sun and Moon to certain former relative positions 
will be attended with high water ? But these are small influ- 
ences of one or two astronomical bodies, repeated at short in- 
tervals ; how much more, then, where numbers of the celestial 
spheres meet in solemn conclave to determine again, and pre- 
determine, the whole series of earthly events, it may be, for a 



11 

thousand years, not only in the physical and physiological, 
but in the intellectual and moral regions ; — how much more, 
could that order of events be foreknown to men as they fore 
know the succession of the seasons and the times of the tides, 
might such a knowledge be of the utmost practical value to 
mankind. If, then, by the aid of the genethliaci, or other 
mathematical and star-gazing people, or by other means, as 
intimated and exemplified in the quotation from Mr. Thomas 
Taylor, it could be certainly determined to what historic period 
our own, for instance, holds apocatastatic relation ; what a 
chart were it in this uncertain sea, for the statesman, the phi- 
lanthropist, the divine, and indeed for all men. How might 
nations provide for foreseen collisions Avith other nations, or 
guard themselves, like the prescient ruler of Egypt, against a 
coming scarcity ; — how might the philanthropist prepare and 
adapt his charities to the very needs that were about to de- 
mand them ; — the physician prearm himself to do battle with 
the pestilence which he saw in the distance ; — the divine fur- 
nish himself with arguments wherewith to combat the errors, 
delusions, and false religions, the character of which, and the 
time of whose arrival he knew beforehand ; — how might the 
fortunate man be more than doubly fortunate in the preenjoy- 
ment of his coming prosperity ; — and the unfortunate strength- 
en himself against evils which he saw to be inevitable. How 
might it not be, for all men, almost as if each individual should 
be permitted to repeat his own life, in order to avail himself 
of the experience acquired in his first crude and unsatisfacto- 
ry experiment, in order not to do what he had before done 
wrong, and to do better what little if any he might have done 
well ; — which, who would not rejoice at the opportunity of 
attempting ? 

Do you, 0, doubting reader, doubt the reality of such apo- 
catastatic repetitions of terrestrial events ? how then do you 
account for the solemn asseveration of Solomon 1 or what pre- 
sumption must you be possessed of if you yield not to the au- 
thority of the " divine Plato," the " divine Plutarch," the " di- 



12 

vine Proclus," the " divine Iamblichus," and the Divine. Syne- 
sius, who was besides a bishop. 

Or do ? you profanely answer me that if all events on earth 
are thus planted and predetermined by the celestial conclaves, 
the " conscia fati sidera," that human foreknowledge cannot 
avail to alter or avoid what is preordained to be ? my unthink- 
ing friend, you are like a non-orthodox sinner caviling at the 
foreknowledge[of God, which as any old theologian can in- 
form you, is one of the most pregnant signs of reprobation. 



CHAPTER II. 

Look here, upon this picture, and on this; 
The counterfeit presentment of two brothers. 
Hamlet. 



Inasmuch, therefore, as it has now been sufficiently demon- 
strated, to all men capable of appreciating an argument, that 
all mundane, and especially all sublunary, and terrestrial, af- 
fairs recur, come back, and copy themselves apocatastatically, 
as the tides follow the moon incessantly round the earth ; and 
since it must be obvious to all properly disciplined, and truly 
•thoughtful, minds, — notwithstanding the irreverent scoffs of 
shallow sciolists, — that a knowledge of its apocatastatic where- 
abouts may be, to any age or nation, of unspeakable practical 
value ; may I, benevolent reader, in your opinion, hope to be 
pardoned, if pardon it need, for what, doubtless to many, may 
look like a very presumptuous attempt, viz : the philanthropic 
attempt to point out to this age, and to this nation especially, 
its true apocatastatic relations to the past. 

First of all, then, is the present, a fertile period in the Pla- 
tonic sense, or is it a period of sterility ; that is, according to 
Plato's own commentary upon himself, a period of dissolution, 
degeneracy, and corruption (<pdopa) ? It is to be remembered 
that the baleful influence of the conjunction of malignant stars 
extends to animals, and plants, and to all social institutions, 



14 

as well as to men personally. (See Repub. Lib. viii.) To be- 
gin with, the vegetable kingdom, — witness the late Irish fam- 
ine ; and do not the dealers in flour already announce the ap- 
proach of another ? and more than ten famines, as likely to 
result in a standing famine, and, a thousand years hence to 
stand forth as the great historic event characteristic of the 
present times ; witness the potato-rot ! ! Besides, all men 
must have observed that certain species of trees, in all places, 
and in all circumstances, seem to be struck with a fatal blight, 
as if a curse had been pronounced upon their race. Witness 
also the exorbitant prices of all articles of human food, that 
infallible criterion of scarcity : and I think that, without fur- 
ther proof, it must be acknowledged that the present is any- 
thing but a fertile period for the vegetable, and of course for 
the animal world. For can beasts flourish without browse, or 
men be prolific without potatoes ? In regard to the human 
race moreover, — witness that terrible, and so often repeated 
scourge, of Cholera, and the hitherto unusual extent and ma- 
lignity of yellow fever ; and are not these sufficient evidence 
of the moral as well as of the physiological degeneracy and 
corruption of the present race of men? And, then, consider 
the institutions of the present ; are not all the thrones of the 
old world trembling like an aspen in the wind, or at least so 
aguishly disposed that they shake " at the shaking of a leaf?" 
and are not we on the very verge of the dissolution of the 
Union ? All things tend to change, that is, to dissolution, 
decay, corruption ; it is manifest therefore, that we have en- 
tered upon one of Plato's periods of sterility. 

What historic period, then, is calculated to remind us of the 
present time ? of what period have the characteristic features 
and lineaments a strong family resemblance to those of the 
present ? Do not all men of historic reading turn at once to 
the latter times of the Roman Republic ? Has there ever 
been on earth any other republic with which our own can be. 
for a moment paralleled ? Thanks to Plutarch, and Mr. Tho- 
mas Taylor, we know that that also was a period of ster- 
ility, and also, still more fortunately, the very apocatastatic 



point of time at which it commenced ; for it would avail us 
very little to know to what apocatastatic period we have suc- 
ceeded, unless we can also ascertain in what part of its orbit 
we are now situated. But in order to arrive at this indispen- 
sable condition of available knowledge, it becomes necessary 
.mine also when the succeeding period, that is our own, 
had its commencement. From what date, now — or have we 
any < which to settle so nice a point of chronology J I 

fear we shall not be able to find any record of the repetition 
of that loud and mournful sound of a trumpet "on a cloud- 
less and clear day," which heralded the birth, and indicated 
the exact moment of the advent, of our apocatastatic elder 
brother, (that is, provided we prove our relationship). And 
had there been such, — unless we are further advanced into the 
period than I incline to think,— beyond all doubt, the second 
advent people would not have failed to make a note of it. It 
is not however necessary, as I understand the Tuscan wise men, 
that identically the same wonderful sign should present itself 
at the ushering in of each corresponding period, but only that 
some equivalent sign should manifest itself from the earth or 
the heavens. It is recorded by the elder Pliny, (Natur. His- 
tor. Lib. ii. 58) who also mentions the sound of the trumpet 
spoken of by Plutarch, that, about the same time, there was 
heard in the sky sounds as of a battle, and that armies were 
actually seen to approach each other and fight in the heavens. 
Now unless I remember incorrectly, it was recorded not more 
than thirty years ago, that. " on a cloudless and clear day" 
as I believe, there was heard in the heavens a pretty smart 
cannonading, and I think armies were seen also at this time. 
The portent was supposed, at the time, if I remember, to have 
some relation to some of the Creek or Seminole wars, while in 
fact it might have been intended to announce much more im- 
portant events. But as this "sign," though perhaps as "won- 
derful," is not quite as well attested as that recorded by Pliny 
and Plutarch, it will not perhaps be safe to rely wholly upon it 
as a-chronological, or apocatastatical, starting point, on an oc- 
casion of so much importance. 



16 

How, then, shall we find our initial point ? A sarcastic 
whig proposes a solution of the difficulty which looks extreme- 
ly plausible, and which, so far as I know, does not violate any 
law of interpretation laid down for such cases. I am so well 
pleased with his theory that I propose to adopt it, but as I am 
not a fighting man, in case I should, instead of being, in the 
usual slang, newspaper way, called upon, be politely called 
out, to defend it, I expect he will have the goodness to take my 
place. He says, then, that Sylla, being a consummate general 
and Consul, that is president of the Roman Republic, is to be 
considered a historical, or representative character, and that, 
as the period of sterility to which our own may prove to be 
second, is known to have begun in his time, we must, therefore, 
look for some corresponding representative individual of our 
own time. That is, we must find some individual holding e- 
quivalent offices in the Republic, and whose public or represen- 
tative acts, moreover, correspond to those of Sylla. What, 
then, did Sylla 1 My friend says that he began " new meas- 
ures" in the State by putting to death two of his enemies, or 
those who were setting on his enemies ; — he does not say 
whether they were hanged, — that he first set the example of 
proscription, for opinion's sake, on a large scale ; that he made 
himself Dictator ; that he trampled not only on his enemies, 
but on all the other departments of the government ; and that, 
instead of executing the laws, he administered the constitu- 
tion, as he understood it. And I think it must be confessed 
that history bears him out. He says moreover, with a lurking 
smile, which is rather a sneer, as if he himself may perhaps 
have been among the proscribed, that it is no slight confirma- 
tion of the correctness of his theory, that there has been an 
individual in our time, holding the same offices, and in all his 
public acts and relations copying so exactly this " old Roman," 
that, even without naming him, there is not a man in the Uni- 
ted States who does not at once recognize the portrait ; that the 
public character and conduct of the one are so perfect a coun- 
terpart of those of the other, that it is impossible to account 



17 

for it except on the supposition of an apocatastatic " damnable 
iteration." Here, then, we have been enabled, with apparent 
certainty, to fix upon exactly corresponding and coincident 
points in the two periods, which, of course, determines their 
chronological relations throughout ; for any other such points 
are equally available for that purpose as the initial points. 
We may, therefore, feel quite independent of any "certain 
wonderful sign," either from the earth or the heavens, as it is 
no longer of consequence to us whether it was accurately ob- 
served and recorded or not. Let us now suppose, for the pres- 
ent, that the ^historic and representative acts of our "old Ro- 
man" president are really, what they are apparently, apocatas- 
tatic copies, or repetitions, and we have not only coincident 
points of the two periods having apocatastatic relation, but 
those points are obviously — if any one may feel curious in that 
regard, — very near their respective beginnings ; probably a 
little posterior, for the "mournful sound of the trumpet," ac- 
cording to Pliny, was heard during the Cimbric war, which 
was some years before the first consulship of Sylla, and this 
also is not at all discordant with the time mentioned by Plu- 
tarch : and we are prepared for a somewhat more detailed 
comparison and parallelism of the two periods assumed, to see 
whether they can really make out their apocatastatic identity. 
And first, and most strikingly characteristic, standing out 
from the historic canvass, obvious even to the blind, are the 
two grand, haughty, all-absorbing, overshadowing, Repub- 
lics ! ! The thoughtful reader will also take note that these 
Republics are not only wonderfully parallel in all their essen- 
tial relations — for how they may have happened to be in dif- 
ferent parts of the earth has already been explained, — but 
also that they are unique, having no similarity to anything ex- 
cept to each other ; — for their third preceding advent lies be- 
yond the horizon of history, with the Trojan wars &c, "before 
Agamemnon," devoured, record and all, by that old Saturn, 
who, swine like, eats up his own offspring. 

In their attitude towards, and treatment of, other nations 
3 



18 

and governments, how are these Republics, as it were, the 
reflected images of each other. To compare here only charac- 
teristic traits and actions, — which will be sufficient. — did not 
Gen. Jackson whip the British in a pitched battle, as Sylla 
did Mithridates ? did not another ,j)f our great generals con- 
quer and reduce to a province of the Republic a great part of 
Mexico, as Caesar did Gaul ? and as the Romans gained ex- 
tensive possessions beyond the Alps and the Rhine, so have 
not we beyond the Rocky Mountains and the Rio del Norte 2 
and as the Romans insulted all the Kings of the East, even 
the " Great King," so have not we bearded, and snubbed, the 
emperor of Austria, and called the Czar by opprobrious 
names ? and as the Romans welcomed rebels from other States, 
and received from them accusations against their own govern- 
ments, so do not we ? and as the kings of the former period 
trembled, at the very name of Rome, so dare& the present 
batch more than open its mouth and peep, at us ? 

Consider also the commerce of the ancient republic. At a 
period a little posterior to the time of Sylla, how immense, to 
supply the incredible luxury of Italy, must have been, by the 
way of Alexandria and the Red Sea, the traffic with India ! 
and are we not about to parallel that traffic with the same 
countries by the way of San Francisco and the Pacific, to 
supply the same insatiable vanity and gluttony ? 

So much for the foreign relations of our illustrious prede- 
cessor. And if we examine the two States interiorly we shall 
find the resemblance not less striking. In the ancient Repub- 
lic, especially after that "mournful sound of the trumpet" 
announced the period of sterility, corruption and decay, what 
weary and sickening selfishness, mutual proscription, and ut- 
ter annihilation of all patriotism in the politicians of all par- 
ties who floated, like scum upon dirty water, on the surface of 
the body politic ! This state of political morality, we may 
say of all morality, was happily characterized by the conve- 
nient phrase, "omnia venalia Romae," all things, and all men, 
had their price, and were in the market at the service of the 



19 

highest bidder. Here too, alas ! — my -whig friend says from 
the time of the man who walked, step for step, track for track 
in the footprints of Sylla the Dictator, — the parallel is so 
disgustingly complete and perfect, that we can only point to 
it and exclaim, with averted face, mournfully as that solemn 
trumpet could have uttered its warning note : alter et idem ! 
alter ct idem ! another yet the same ! another yet the same ! 

At the same time, what a development there was of the a- 
daptive faculty, of what may be called the science of contri- 
vance, that instinctive tact which provides for the indolent 
ease, and convenience, of a rich and luxurious people ; its pro- 
ducts so splendid and gorgeous, so magnificent, and in many 
respects, so exquisitely comfortable — at least for those who 
were not employed in putting up the fixings, — that they must 
be supposed to have been patented, certainly some of them, in 
a part of the period at which we have not yet quite arrived. — 
And then, in regard to public improvements and facilities ; on 
what a grand scale were they projected, and with what scien- 
tific precision and perfection finished, in those days. Witness 
their broad highways, constructed of solid mason-work, thread- 
ing in all directions the republic and its provinces, extending 
even to the far western ocean., passing through mountains, and 
across largest streams by bridges which still remain ; their 
aqueducts, by which whole rivers were made to flow, high a 
bove the surface of the earth, and pour their limpid treasures 
into the "eternal," and other cities ; and also their associate 
washing, and soapsaving, establishments, called public baths, 
at that time. And are not we competing with them, though 
yet not fully, in all these, and such like particulars ? and do 
we not christen ourselves the " Age of Progress," exclusively 
because of our "going ahead" in m&se very same directions % 
Though our road has not y*h reached the western ocean. 

If we look still more in eriarly into the everyday life of our 
great prototype we find there as I ere, t'cu as now, that most 
incredible of all meeting of extremes, men resenting with the 
most indignant pride and haugfety jealously the least en- 



20 

croachnient upon their freedom, surrounded by, and domineer- 
ing over, with the most relentless tyranny, men whom they 
had deprived of all personal liberty. The highest freedom 
delighting in, and reposing upon the foul bosom of, the lowest 
slavery ! ! what a paradox then ! what a paradox now ! 
Then, as now, they had their foreign slave trade ; then, as 
now, their domestic slave trade also ; — and ah ! how many 
parallels to the most touching and tragic tales of " Uncle 
Tom," and his "Key," then lacked a historian. 

But more interior still, and infinitely more important, as un- 
derlying, modifying, and to a great extent controling, and 
giving their essential character to, all other relations, is the 
religious relation of men. Under which general term is to 
be included the sum of their belief and opinions, both posi- 
tive and negative, not only in regard to their moral responsi- 
bility, and future or present accountability to a Divine Judg- 
ment seat and Judge or Judges, and in regard to their 
practical duties to Him or to them, to God, or to "the gods ;" 
but also in regard to their relations to other spiritual beings 
of whatever kind, superhuman, infrahuman, or extrahuman, or 
to the disembodied, or unembodied, spirits of men. The opin- 
ions and belief of men in regard to this class of relations are 
the foundation and substratum, or rather the specific germ, of 
the whole human life, both of the individual man, and of com- 
munities and states. " The seeds" of all outward acts and 
conduct, not pertaining to the mere animal life, " descend from 
thence." " Here," some one will interpose and say ; "here, 
Mr. Author, your parallel altogether fails, or comes short." 
Not too fast, my impatient reader, just here it is, on the con- 
trary, in my opinion, that the parallel is most complete. For 
what was the characteristic, all inclusive, overshadowing theo- 
logical dogma of the ancient times we are speaking of? " Ju- 
piter est quodcunque vides." And of this deification of the 
all, the deification of the parts, was a perfectly natural conse- 
quence ; that is, pantheism leads inevitably to polytheism. 
Accordingly, the ancients worshiped the Powers of nature, un- 



21 • 

der various forms, and with various rites, consonant to their 
supposed attributes. And is not pantheism in our time also, 
proclaimed from high places, and from low places, and practi- 
cally believed in, in all places, and by the same name of "Na- 
ture" under which it was formerly veiled 1 The Powers of Na- 
ture too, somewhat better known perhaps than in the former 
period, and coerced to do the bidding of man by a stronger 
magic than that of the ancient theurgists, still, are they not 
equally believed in, trusted in, worshiped, in fact, and equally 
as in the ancient time, to the exclusion of the idea of a God to 
whom could be offered truly spiritual homage ? and have we not 
the same natural result, viz : the same essential atheism ? for 
pantheism, polytheism, and atheism, are reciprocally cause and 
effect, and are equivalent terms, or rather the same thing under 
different names, or Atheism is the identity or middle term, of 
which Pantheism and Polytheism are the extremes. In re- 
gard to our supposed relations to other spiritual beings, es- 
pecially to disembodied spirits, or the spirits of dead men, the 
parallel is, if possible still more perfect. The ancients be- 
lieved that the souls of the dead had much power and influence 
in human affairs, and that they could communicate with the 
living in various ways. The Romans therefore had their 
household divinities, which were the spirits of their dead an- 
cestors, presiding over the fortunes of the family, and which 
could be consulted in case of doubt or difficulty by their de- 
scendants. They had, besides, inunmerable oracles of the 
dead, fanes, temples, where the spirits of particular, distin- 
guished individuals, could, at any time, give response in regard 
to things present or future. In addition to these sources of 
information from the "spirit world," there were men and wo- 
men, numerous as the spawn of Egypt, they were, in fact, in 
great part, the spawn of Egyt, by whose aid all sorts of spirits 
could be evoked and consulted at the pleasure of the question- 
er. Is there a parallel to all this in our own time-? or is it an 
identity, the same thing ? — " Monsieur Tonson come again ?" 
For are not we coming to have, for each family, our guardian 



spirits ? some father, brother, wife, or child, or all of them to- 
gether, Avho can comfort and advise us ? Have we not oracles 
where the spirits of great men are constantly consulted ? and 
for those who can anywhere evoke the vulgar dead, could they 
have been more numerous in old Rome, or even in Egypt itself? 
Here truly are apocatastatic evidences to which I think no 
candid lawyer can demur. And, on the whole, are not the ar- 
guments which go to prove the present period, commencing at 
the time before spoken of, — for I do not wish to be offensively 
definite on that point, — apocatastatic of that beginning a little 
before the first consulship of Sylla, amply and abundantly con- 
clusive 1 We know that the ancient period was one of sterili- 
ty from the mournfulness of the sound of the trumpet, which 
indication could also be fully confirmed if necessary, but no 
reader of history will need any confirmation of it. We have 
seen too that the present period is one of sterility and corrup- 
tion in the Platonic sense. And then, taking the two great 
republics as the central points of the tAVO periods ; how nume- 
rous, how striking, how identical, how wonderful, are the coin- 
cidences of the two periods thus far ! their discrepancies, how 
few, how slight, how easily accounted for, if they were of suffi- 
cient importance to be accounted of. Surely, and beyond 
question, if there is not an apocatastatic relation here, there is 
plainly, no such thing as apocatastatic relations at all. But if 
the two periods under consideration have really such a relation 
to each other, (and who can longer doubt it ?) and our own is to 
continue, as of course it is to continue, its parallelism with its 
predecessor ; then, my countrymen, to what a future, Dii aver- 
tite omen, are we to look forward ! ! What seditions, revolts, 
rebellions, servile wars, civil wars, and other internecine strifes, 
are before us ! what luxury, corruption, indolence, cowardice, 
vice, crime, impiety, and superstition, are to fall naturally and 
justly, under the terrible power of such a loathsome, and shame- 
ful, yet shameless despotism, as, surely, the earth is never poL 
luted with, under the conjunction and influence of any other 
set even of misanthropic and malignant stars. Meantime, 



23 

men. grown desperate, and hopeless of help from their gods, 
turn more and more to daemons and impious invocation of the 
dead, as if, deserted of heaven, and despairing of aid from 
thence, they would fain compel hell itself to their assistance ,' 
having come to believe and hope in lying spirits which a pro- 
fane curiosity prompted them with unhallowed rites to consult. 
" But (these divine men) conceived the last period to be under 
the dominion of Mercury, to whom the Moon in the last place 
conjoins herself. What can be found more subtile than this 
arrangement ? For mankind being purified from rude and 
savage pursuits, arts also having been invented, and disciplines 
disposed in an orderly manner, the human race sharpened its 
inventive power. And because the noble genius in man could 
not preserve (uniformly) one course of life, the improbity of 
evil increased from various institutes, and confused manners 
and the crimes of a life of wickedness prevailed : hence the 
human race in this period both invented and delivered to oth- 
ers more enormous machinations. On this account these wise 
men thought that this last period should be assigned to Mercu- 
ry, so that, in imitation of that star, the human race might give 
birth to inventions replete with evil." (Firmicius, Mathesis,) 
Certainly, Mercury, the god of the merchants, is the Ruler of 
our period, the god also of the instinctive understanding by 
whose inspiration the human race has sharpened its inventive 
power to a most vulpine and wily sharpness, having renounced 
faith in all higher divinities. And are we not fast entering 
that part of our orbit where "the seeds" of "more enormous 
machinations, and inventions replete with evil," having already 
taken root, are about to perfect their fruit 7 

But is this hideous approaching night, of more than Egyp- 
tian darkness, left orbless, and without a ray, from the angry 
skies ? lo ! still beneath the eastern verge, one pitying Star 
throws up again its mild redeeming light, and the sinful earth 
is not wholly forsaken of heaven ! 

Thus much may suffice for the general parallel of the two. 
periods, in regard, both to what is past, of our own, and to what 



24 

is yet future. I hope however, it may not prove altogether 
uninteresting, just at the present time, or unprofitable, to the 
thoughtful reader, if, in one particular, viz : that of intercourse 
of the living with the dead, including its cognate subjects 
and their attendant manifestations, I shall follow the parallel 
somewhat more into detail, that we may determine, whether 
something has, indeed, at last, happened, " whereof it may be 
said, " See ! this is new," giving the lie to the wisdom of 
Solomon ; or whether we also must confess with him ; "it hath 
been already of old time, which was before us." And in a 
moral and practical point of view, the subject of such inter- 
course may have another aspect, for some minds, if it shall 
prove to be only paganism come round again ; than it presents, 
while they look upon it as some hitherto unknown, unique, and 
altogether peculiar, development of Nature or of Providence, 
reserved as the crowning boon for this, in-all-directions, espe- 
cially backwards, progressive, and expansive age. Before en- 
tering upon the comparison in detail, however, it will be necess-- 
ary, for the sake of the unlearned reader, in order that he may 
the better understand quotations and allusions hereafter to be 
made, to exhibit a very general outline of some of the ancient 
doctrines in regard to the character, power, and possible influ- 
ence and participation in human affairs, of several classes of 
spiritual beings, and especially of the spirits of the dead. 
We shall then be prepared to enter upon a serious subject, — 
certainly from some points of view sufficiently serious, — -I hope, 
with all due, and becoming, seriousness. Mean while, kind 
reader, excuse the seeming levity of the introduction, and take 
these preinitial chapters, this apocatastatic prelude, — so it be 
good-naturedly, — in whatever sense may best accord with your 
own astrologic whereabouts. 



CHAPTER III. 

Gluum multae res in philosophia nequaquam satis adhuc explicatae sunt, turn 
pcrdifficilis, et perobscura qufeestio, est de natura Deorum ***** Plerique 
Deos esse dixerunt. * * * * Glui vero Deos esse dixerunt, tanta sunt in varie- 
tate ac dissentione, ut coram molestum sit dinumerare sententias. 

Cicero, De Natur. Deor. Lib. i. C. 1. 

Many things in philosophy are as yet by no means well understood ; but, 
especially, the question concerning the nature of the Gods is one of great diffi- 
culty, and very obscure. ***** Most men believe in the existence of Gods. 
* * * But of those who hold that there are Gods, the opinions in 
regard to them are so various and discordant that it were no small labor merely 
to count them. 



Most of the heathens, it would seem, were not as " perfect 
converts in every particular" to their religion, even "as it was 
understood and illustrated by the Pythagoric and Platonic 
philosophers," as Mr. Thomas Taylor, the Platonist ; and a- 
mong these we may reckon Cicero himself, though he also was 
so much of a Platonist that, " he would rather be wrong with 
Plato than right with anybody else." If the opinions of the 
ancients concerning the Gods were so numerous that it would 
be no small undertaking just to enumerate them, I shall not. 
of course, be expected to exhibit them all, or even many of 



2G 

them, on the present occasion. Indeed, -were this in my power, 
the purposes of this tract do not require more than the most 
general outline of some of the leading hypotheses. The two 
most important theories were those of emanation, and of evo- 
lution, which, taking their starting points from opposite ex- 
tremes, met each other half way in a common polytheism. 
Both held to the eternity of matter, and the emanation theory 
to the co-eternity of spirit also. It commenced from " the 
good," or "the one." " The principle and first cause of all 
things is the good ; and the good itself is the same with the 
one" says Proclus. But this one, because of his perpetual 
exuberance, remains not a mere barren entity, but immediately 
proceeds into Being, or Being itself, which is no other than 
the highest order of the gods, otherwise expressed as Intel- 
lect itself or the intelligible world, or the divine Paradigm, 
or Exemplar of the Universe, where all variety and multitude 
are contained potentially, or in "occult union." But it is ne- 
cessary that this occult multitude should be expanded into 
actual diversity, hence a third procession originates, in which 
multitude no longer subsists indivisibly, but is perfectly dif- 
fused in order to the actual diversity of things, and the exis- 
tence of the sensible world. This third principle is no other 
than Soul, which expands the impartiality of Intellect, and 
unfolds all that was involved in its unity. After these three 
Principles there remains nothing but the gradation and di- 
versities of multitude. But we are still very high up in the 
series, we have not yet descended to the furthest and outer- 
most Stars ; for this Soul is not yet the anima mundi, or Soul 
of the world, but is the Supermundane Soul, the Demiurgus, 
or Fashioner of the visible Universe by impressing upon pre- 
existent matter the form of the intelligible Paradigm as near 
as the perversity of the material would admit ; and by pro- 
cession into it from himself, of a lower grade of Soul than 
himself, which is the " Soul of the world." Am I right, Mr. 
Taylor ? But still far and steep is the way to this " terrene 
abode," and to "the last of things ;" it will be safest therefore 



for us to take the strong hand of some one well acquainted 
■with the path. " Having thus fabricated the body of the 
" Universe a perfect whole from perfect parts, he placed in its 
' ; center a Soul, and caused it to pervade the body through its 
<; whole extent, and also to infold it from without. ****** 
" and so, from all these causes, he generated a blessed God. 
" He also formed our nurse the Earth, the first and oldest of 
" the Gods generated Avithin the celestial sphere. Of Earth 
" and Heaven the children are Oceanus and Tethys, of these 
" Phocys, Saturn, and Rhea, and whoever is of that series ; of 
" Saturn and Rhea, Jupiter and Juno and their brothers, and 
" those who are descended from these. After these, and next 
" to these, are Daemons who inhabit the air, are always near 
" us, though commonly invisible to us, and know all our 
'•• thoughts. They are intermediate between gods and men, 
" their function is to interpret and convey to the gods what 
" comes from men, and to men what comes from the gods. All 
" intercourse and conversation between gods and men are car- 
' ; ried on by means of daemons. When, therefore, all the 
" Gods which revolve visibly in heaven, and those which ren- 
" der themselves visible when they please, were created, the 
" Generator of this All thus addressed them. Gods of gods, 
" there are three mortal races yet to be formed, without which 
" heaven will not be perfect. That this universe, therefore 
" may be indeed a Universe, betake yourselves according to 
" your nature to the formation of animated beings, imitating 
" the power which was exercised in your own production. So 
" saying, he poured into the same vessel as before, the remain- 
" der of the materials from which the Soul of the world was 
" formed, and tempering them nearly in the same manner as 
" before, though with only the second and third degree of pu- 
" rity, he finished the whole, and drew out and distributed 
" Souls to each of the stars, and showing them the Universe, 
" he announced to them the laws of their existence ; that it 
" was necessary they should descend into bodies possessed of 
" various passions ; that he who controled them by reason, and 



28 

" lived virtuously should return to his appropriate star and 
" lead a happy life ; but that he who obeyed passion and lived 
" unjustly should return into another body and be born a wo- 
" man, (Oh ! Rev. Miss Brown, what enormities were you 
guilty of in your preceding life, when you were, bona fide, of 
the masculine gender ! !) and if that was not enough to re- 
" form him he should next be born a beast. Having made 
" known to them the law, he scattered them in the Earth, the 
" Moon, and other instruments of time, and commanded the 
"junior gods to fashion mortal bodies and unite them to human 
" souls, and to rule over and govern in the best manner the 
" mortal creature, except in so far as he might be the author 
" of evil to himself." (Plato, in Timaeus, and other Dialogues.) 
Here we have a procession, gradatim, of pre existent spirit 
until it descends into, and impresses its forms upon pre-exis- 
tent matter, that receptacle and nurse of all generation, 
(iraa-tig" ysvetfeus uTocJcf^rjv) 

The opposite theory begins where the Pythagorico-Platonic 
hypothesis ends, with an eternal matter ; not, however, the 
same passive receptivity as in the other case, waiting to be 
acted upon. Motion was a part of its definition. It needed 
only room enough, a vacuum, xsvov, to work in. Having found 
space, and set Itself to circumgyrating, each atom seeking its 
private fortune, aud meeting at length ^yith some fellow atom, 
compounds, or rather concretes, were formed, but whence the 
law of affinity or cohesion does not appear. It must of course 
have been latent in the atoms.. Thus the four elements, fire, 
air, earth, water, were arrived at. From this point there could 
be no difficulty, and the universe evolved itself somehow, em- 
pirically, though not as fast probably, as it was, in the other 
case, constructed by the " father of works." But, not having 
any paradigm to Avork by, some of its seeming mistakes may 
be the more readily accounted for. Thus, in clue time, were 
evolved the earth, sun, moon, stars, planets, plants, fishes, in- 
sects, quadrupeds, monkeys, men, demons, gods, mundane and 
supermundane, for aught that appears, quite up to the "super- 



29 

essential one ;" the evolution ending where the Pythagoric 
emanation begins. Certainly quite a remarkable accident 
with all its misfortuities. This is the most ancient develop- 
ment theory, this side of history, often since reappearing with 
variations, on the return of certain comets, and in our own 
time especially. 

These the )ries, however, were, for the most part, the day- 
dreams of philosophers merely, rather accommodating them- 
selves to popular opinion and practice than having much con- 
trol over them. The origin of the everyday heathen theology 
with its rites is very obscure. What seems sufficiently cer- 
tain is that its underlying idea was a kind of natural uncon- 
scious pantheism, in which it came nearest to the development 
theory ; a sort of Nature-gods of every rank and quality, high 
and low, good and evil, from Jupiter optimus Maximus, to the 
infra-human subterranean elves, being evolved, and appearing 
everywhere, like electric sparks at metallic points. The sun, 
moon, planets, stars, earth, heaven, ocean, were divinities, as 
in the Platonic theology, besides those which presided over 
mountains, forests, groves, rivers, springs, countries, cities, 
towns, places, ("genius loci") caves, mines, and individual men. 
Their number was innumerable. Yet, lest there should be 
some not duly honored, there were also altars erected to the 
'•'unknown god." Besides all these, who could communicate 
with men directly or indirectly, the heathens everywhere wor- 
shiped, and constantly consulted, the spirits of the dead. 
Altogether a pretty liberal provision for intercourse with the 
■■spirit world" and for getting news from the "spirit land" 
to use the slang phrases of the day. 

In all the ancient theories, and especially in the popular 
belief, these beings were part good and part evil. In the Pla- 
tonic theology there would seem to be no way for evil beings 
to originate except in the perversity, or rather imbecility, of 
matter. The universe and its parts, the celestial gods, have 
bodies in which, and over which, they, as it were, preside 
merely, for "the soul of the Universe is not bound by the 



30 

things which it binds. For it has dominion over them. Hence 
it is not passively affected by them." That is, the bodies of 
the celestial deities do not excite passion in them. But the 
Demons of the middle region are the workmanship of the "ju- 
nior gods," and their spiritual part came out of the second 
soul-mixture, and so is of a secondary quality. They have 
also bodies, of finer organization, however, than those of men, 
to which they are so united as to be subject to passion, and 
some of them exercise malignant passions. The development 
theory could of course evolve good and evil indifferently, and 
Plutarch says that Democritus himself, one of the chief au- 
thors of it, believed in both good and evil spirits. And the 
popular belief inclined perhaps, more to evil than good, ,so 
that most of their service was merely deprecatory. Much of 
this, however, undoubtedly, arose from the innate consciousness 
of moral accountability, and the feeling that the gods would be 
ultimately just. The spirits of the dead also were partly be- 
nevolent and partly malevolent towards their yet embodied 
descendants and fellow-men. 

These beings, especially of the lower orders, were always 
present with men, commonly invisibly, sometimes visibly, in- 
fluencing them in a great variety of ways, both for good, and 
for evil. 

Their organs of more direct communication with men were, 
sometimes, the gods of elevated rank, but generally either 
the Demons of the intermediate region between gods and men ; 
or, especially, the spirits of the dead. 

The methods of intercourse between the two worlds, and of 
prying into futurity, were by means of Oracles, Omens, 
dreams, the lot, astrology, magical divination, — the ancient 
mesmerism, — aided by magical statues, tripods, rings, spheres, 
water, mirrors ; and necromancy proper, or the evocation of, 
and direct conversation with, the spirits of the dead. 

The intercourse, of these various kinds, was not uncommon 
and rare, but frequent, constant, and among the daily events of 
the ancient heathen life. " Chrysippus collected innumerable 



31 

oracles (oracular responses) yet no one winch was not con- 
firmed by abundant authority and testimony." (Cicero, de 
Divinatione, lib. i.) 

The gods however were not. with the exception of Apollo, 
very communicative in that way ; much less so than the spir- 
its of the dead. Oraculis hoc genus (that is of the dead) stip- 
atus est orbis ; says Tertullian, the world is crowded with 
them. He is speaking only of the public fanes and temples 
and of course does not include the "household gods'' who were 
also spirits of the dead. These gods and spirits exercised in- 
credible influence in human affairs, since nothing of conse- 
quence either public or private was undertaken without con- 
sulting them. The pleasure of the gods was also constantly 
consulted, especially among the Remans, by omens ; the augurs, 
whose business it was to interpret them, being public officers 
of the state. Sortilege also, or consulting the lot, in various 
ways, was exceedingly common. But besides these public 
and legal and religious methods of searching into futurity, — 
for this was always the essential purpose of them. — the vari- 
ous forms of magical divination, including necromancy, which 
were private, forbidden by law, and commonly held to be pro- 
fane and impious, — these, for sometime before and after the 
fall of the Roman Republic, were everywhere the rage, and 
contributed, no doubt, with other causes, to the neglect of the 
established oracles at that time ; since we find men of all 
ranks, including the Emperors themselves, having recourse to 
these sacrilegious methods of gratifying their curiosity in re- 
gard to the future. The elder Pliny says that when this 
science was first introduced from the East, the Greeks took it 
up not merely with avidity but that they were rabid after 
it ; that in his time it prevailed in almost all parts of the 
world ; that inasmuch as there was no man who was not de- 
sirous of knowing the future in regard to himself, and who did 
not believe that such knowledge was most successfully to be 
sought from heaven ; — that, it therefore, made pretensions to 
religion, in regard to which, however, it, more than any thin o- 



32 

else, (maxiine,) darkens the tninds of in en. (caligat Immanum 
genus.) 

But it is high time, and more than time, the reader may 
think, to commence the promised parallel. This dull chapter, 
however, dear reader, may be of service to us hereafter, and 
as I hate words, it shall be my study in all things to be brief. 
I shall therefore, for your sake and my own, restrict the com- 
parison about to be made between things presumed to be apo- 
catastaticaily related, to certain theoretico-practical opinions ; 
to certain practices, in regard to which I shall endeavor to 
show essential, but not always identical, sameness, — chiefly, to 
those which were anciently called magic, divination, enchant- 
ment, necromancy ; and are now known by the names of mag- 
netism, mesmerism, biology, physical manifestations, spirit- 
intercourse &c. ; and to certain opinions in regard to the 
character, causes, and consequences of these practices and 
the resulting phenomena. And the parallel will be mostly 
or. wholly, between properly ancient, and present times. 



CHAPTER IV. 

AXXa fjwjv u-7roXv]'7r-Tcov xai stjv twv av(3pwtfwv (putfjv *oXXa ;cai ^rav-toia u- 
to rwv aurrjv "rspis^w-TGJV wpayixaTajv oida^yjvai <rs xa. avwyxaffQr^ui. 

Epicurus, apud Diogenern Laert. L. x. 

Apocatastatic Translation. — " How is it possible for man to be "free," 
while pent up between two contending forces 1 Reason, the soul's prime min- 
ister, replies unequivocally in the negative ; because man, materially, and 
spiritually, possesses universal affinities which he did not create, which he can- 
not control, which he cannot destroy ; but he is compelled to act as he is acted 
upon." The Great Harmonia. Vol. ii. p. 225. 



Such as is the Theoretic, or most general and fundamental 
view of the "nature of things," and of human relations, such 
are the practical opinions, and such again the conduct of men, 
whether of individuals, or of communities, or of periods. — 
And this, and these, again, are determined, and predetermined, 
to a great extent, by the character, that is, by the moral or 
voluntary character, of those who hold them ; whether such 
views and opinions originate then and there, or whether, 
the "seeds" of them, "descending from the stars," or from some 
other superior or anterior point, find then and there, their 
fitting nidus, and appropriate soil. For all practical beliefs, 
— not mere inherited, professed, or pretended opinions, but 
5 



S4 

— all practical beliefs are, for the most part, matter of choice. 
And though they react, and often strongly, on the character 
of those who originate, or who adopt them, it were a question 
not easy to decide, whether they are more cause than effect 
of such character. What is quite certain is that they mutu- 
ally act and react, each increasing and confirming the other. 
Hence it is found in all the languages of men, that, all men 
have ever, and as it Avere unconsciously, held each other 
morally responsible for their practical opinions. This truth, 
however, is so trite as to be often overlooked and forgotten ; 
nay, it is even denied, oftentimes, by men who, slightly self- 
conscious, obstinately refuse to see, what is quite obvious to 
everybody but themselves, that they have mistaken for truth, 
the mere shadow of their own wishes. Certain principles, 
therefore, with their consequent opinions, are, as it were, con- 
natural and appropriate to certain individuals, places, and 
periods, so that by some law of spontaneity, or equivocal gen- 
eration, they emerge there, or however originating, do, in fact, 
come to take possession of the minds to which they are adap- 
ted ; and persons, or periods, similar in character, will originate 
or adopt similar or equivalent principles and opinions. For 
man, however self-degraded to a brute, is ever more than a 
mere animal ; his spiritual character asserts itself under all 
circumstances. No man acts wholly, like animals, by mere 
intelligent instinct or impulse. He must have " principles of 
conduct," implying more or less the idea of duty or spiritual 
obligation ; and inasmuch as incompatibility of their conduct 
with their principles is, for all men, a relation in which they 
are ill at ease, a reconciliation is constantly aimed at, and by 
most men rather by adapting the principles to the conduct 
than the conduct to the principles. Or, if it is predetermined 
that the conduct shall have no relation to the law of duty, such 
determination will be accompanied by some theory which shall 
exclude from itself all recognition of such law of duty, — the 
spiritual asserting itself in the very act of denying its own 
existence. 



35 

The period, -with which the present is to be compared, was 
one. of the most active intellectual development, conjoined with 
a most thorough, and almost total, corruption in politics and 
morals ; relentless oppression yielding incredible -wealth for 
the supply of a luxury more gorgeous and magnificent, and at 
the same time more dissolute and shameless, than the world 
had hitherto witnessed ; manifesting such forms of vice and 
crime, that lower degradation, or greater wickedness, would 
seem to be impossible to man. In such a period, and for such 
men, — men of active minds, theorising, philosophising, specu- 
lating, in all directions, as if to find a reason or an apology 
to themselves for their conduct, — for such men, the Pytha- 
gorico-Platonic theology, which recognized a Maker, a Provi- 
dence, and spiritual accountability, was, plainly, inappropri- 
ate. Such a period, and such men, could not originate, and 
would not adopt, principles demanding sobriety, honesty, 
morality, religion, — there could be no affinity, but only mutual 
antipathy and repulsion. Such an atheistic, or pantheistic, 
development theory, as that of Democritus, or of whatever 
more ancient day-dreamer, may have been the father of it, — 
if it be not rather the spontaneous offspring, at all times, of 
the minds of men who cannot tolerate the presence of a per- 
sonal Deity who "taketh account" of human conduct, — such a 
theory was a seed much more likely to take root and bring 
forth fruit in such a soil. This theory, accordingly, after its 

Epicurean modification ; which, appeasing somewhat the 

Nemesis of conscience by admitting the existence of "the 
gods," while at the same time it represented them as wholly 
indifferent to human affairs, — became a more permanent and 
hopeless, because less disquieting, form of atheism, than the 
total denial of the existence of the Deity ; and while it spoke 
beautifully of the beauty and pleasure of virtue and piety, as 
worthy to be practiced for their own sake, and of the happi- 
ness of conformity to the physical laws of man's organism, 
and so lulled the soul with a Syren-song, — for if happiness is 
the end, are not the means a matter of taste not to be disputed 



36 

about ? and what are the laws of the organism but the natural 
impulses of the organs ? — by removing the only restraints 
which could control, and the only incitements to virtue which 
could influence, corrupt and wicked men, and by furnishing 
them, at the same time, with what they most of all desired, 
principles, conformable to their predetermined conduct, it 
made reformation hopeless by seeming to make vice both safe 
and reasonable. This theory, so modified, became the main 
source of the "principles of conduct" for the leading men of 
the period in question. What rendered this theory so accep- 
table and welcome to those already predisposed to receive it, 
was, — both before and after its modification, — its total abro- 
gation of the law of duty, its practical denial of all properly 
spiritual accountability. For what cared the men of that 
period, what care the profligate and licentious, the vicious and 
the wicked, of any period, for mere physical responsibility to 
the violated "Laws of Nature," if any sophistry can even but 
half persuade them that the conscience which makes cowards 
of them, the fearful looking-for of future retribution at the 
hands of a personal, holy, and just Judge, are but the shadows 
of groundless fears, the uneradicated superstitions of the nur- 
sery ? Let those embrace virtue who find her lovely ; to them 
she is neither beautiful nor desirable ; and are they not as 
much entitled to their choice of happiness as those who seek 
it in a different form ? and if they sometimes carry their en- 
joyment to what some are pleased to call excess do they not 
at least make sure of it ? if the Laws of Nature are offended 
have they not antidotes wherewith to appease, or can they not 
cheat, blind nature, or reform in time to prevent unpleasant 
consequences 7 Or if they deliberately prefer a short life and 
a merry one to the tedium of a stupid life of sobriety and vir- 
tue, have they not a right to choose for themselves ? It was 
not so much its denial of a future life, which was a part of 
the modification of this theory, which part, however, compara- 
tively few adopted, as it was its view of the "Nature of things," 
and of the character of the Gods, Ayhich made it so soothing 



37 

and "welcome an application to the conscience, and gave to it 
its peculiar influence. For the Gods were wholly removed 
from human affairs, and indifferent to human conduct, neither 
rewarding nor punishing them except by the physical conse- 
quences of their actions, and therefore the fear of death was 
effectually taken away, even for those who did not believe it to 
be the termination of existence. Such views of man's rela- 
tion to the Deity, propagated by leading minds, and gradually 
pervading all ranks of men, must have reacted strongly to 
quicken the development of that kind of character which al- 
ready demanded them. And of the correctness of such views 
what stronger confirmation could be given than such examples 
of successful wickedness, "unwhipt of justice," as that of Syl- 
la, and of Augustus, and indeed of Rome herself, as the mis- 
tress of the world ? Add to this the views of Nature which 
belonged to the same theory, as a machine setting, itself in 
motion, or if set in motion by the gods, evolving, without their 
further care, whatever it may evolve, — a self-developing 
universe. Considering that it commenced as a chaos of indi- 
visible atoms having only vague likings and dislikings, it had 
already done much. : it had really become a very splendid and 
efficient piece of machinery, and what new products might not 
now be expected from it. For, according to this view, it was, 
plainly, no apocatastatic contrivance, everlastingly reiterating 
itself, and recurring to the same points, — else it never would 
have arrived at its present point of evolution, — but a progress 
in a straight line, evermore arriving at new regions. It had 
evolved man with his present life and why not a future life 1 
had not Caesar, who was once known to cry like a sick girl 
"give me some drink," and "help me Cassius," become a god ? 
and had not Caesar's horse come to be Consul ? The human 
mind had been evolved to know much, of visible things, why not 
of invisible ? it had explored in all directions the present life, 
why not the future 1 it could take knowledge of the distant in 
space, why not of the distant in time ? did not the evolution 
manifestly tend to the convergence of all intelligence and pow- 



38 

er in man as the lord as well as the product of Nature ) was 
not Rome the earthly Providence, and did not Caesar already 
hold divided empire with Jupiter ? might there not be some 
magic word of power which would enable him to control, not 
only nature, but the gods themselves ? which should compel all 
spirits, whether of unembodied or disembodied, men, of heroes, 
demons, gods, to make known their secrets, and to unfold to 
men the future ? Such were some of the last results of the 
ancient theory of progress ; so thought and so experimented 
our apocatastatic predecessors. (Plin. Nat. Hist. L. xxx. v.) 
A way of looking at the "nature of things" admirably adap- 
ted to keep alive curiosity, to awaken expectation, and to make 
credible whatever new and wonderful things might manifest, 
or seem to manifest, themselves ; a w T ay indeed, that might 
make doubly credulous credulity itself. Such, and such-like 
fundamental principles, in regard to the "nature of things," 
and in regard to the nature of the gods, together with the 
popular belief in regard to man's relations to the dead, and to 
other spirits, must have tended strongly, notwithstanding the 
Epicurean denial of the immortality of the soul, to produce 
that outburst of impious curiosity in regard to the future, at- 
tempting to satisfy itself by sacrilegious experiments in regard 
to man's power to evoke and compel spirits, which character- 
ized the period under consideration ; although, doubtless, the 
maddening excitements of political parties, and during the 
latter part of the period, at which we have not yet arrived, 
every man's fear for his life, which hung upon the caprice of a 
despot, must have super-added to curiosity, intense anxiety, 
to know, not only his own future, but that of his enemies also. 
Certain it is, that, during the last century of the Roman Re- 
public, and the first centuries of the Empire, men seemed 
madly resolved, by whatever means, and at whatever cost, and 
hazard, to rend the veil which conceals the future from the 
present, though it were necessary to assault the heavens, or to 
make descent upon hell itself. 

That our own period is not in all these respects yet quite 



3S 

parallel to its predecessor may be true, but it is tu be remem- 
bered that we are yet near its commencement. Our wealth is 
yet rapidly increasing, and so our luxury and consequent vices 
and crimes have not arrived at their acme. Our political par- 
ties have not yet quite reached the point where to the victors 
belong not only the spoils, but the lives,, also, of the minority ; 
and we are yet, it may be, a hundred years from the evolution 
of a Caesar, and the establishment of the Empire. But our 
business in the present chapter is with principles and opinions, 
and here I think we shall find the parallelism pretty fairly 
commenced. To say nothing of older pantheistic theories and 
pantheistic men, as Spinoza, Hobbes, etc., or of the atheistic 
spawn of Germany, not without their influence, direct or indi- 
rect, now and here ; have we not, in our own time, and lan- 
guage, popular writers of highest talents, who with wide, deep, 
and insidious power, subvert the foundations of all proper 

human responsibility? for pantheism, and the '-'Eternal 

Laws." know, or teach, only the responsibility appropriate to 
animals. Wide-spread, and fearful to the humanity in men is 
this influence. Witness, as a single specimen of it, in "The 
Life*' of poor Sterling, a soul capable of the truest and fullest 
spiritual life and development, perishing in the serpent folds 
of atheistic sophistry, like an unhappy beast in the embrace 
of the anaconda. 

As for development theories, which come next in the order 
of evolution after atheism, — for where there is no Creator the 
Universe must be gotten up in some other way, — 0, Deniocri- 
tus, with what undreamed-of apocatastatic honors has your 
dreaming head been crowned ! "a hundred sons and every son 
a god !" and competent, every one, to the highest functions of 
Deity. Well may these awaken expectation, as indeed they 
have. For instance, we are looking daily for the advent of 
the "New Man ;" but whether to be evolved out of the old 
one, or in some more kindred line of development, as in that, 
it may be, of the innocent, non-carniverous, fruit-consuming 
Simiae — on this point we are in doubt. This we know, that 



40 

oftentimes, of late, he lias attempted to be born, of the old effete 
humanity, but though the throes are strong and even convul- 
sive, they never prove sufficient to bring him to the birth.— 
The vis vitae of the race seems too weak for such a product. 
We may, therefore, among other things, expect that the scep- 
tre is about to depart from our house. " The perfectibility of 
the human race," therefore, which our pride prompts us to be- 
lieve in as the natural order of evolution, may prove a problem 
too hard for the outworking powers, and may compel them, 
in order to "progress," to recede and take another path, even 
as the Democritic atoms, as we are informed, and may weli 
believe, tried innumerable combinations before they arrived at 
the present order of things. But I am wandering somewhat 
from my purpose, which was to show, that, the development 
theories of our time are sufficiently like those of the period 
we have been considering to have sprung from the same side- 
rial semination or planting, that is, apocatastatically the same ; 
and that they have had, and have, an analogous influence and 
effect. My limits, and promise to be brief, forbid the attempt 
to characterize, or even to name, all the recent specimens of 
world-manufacture ; being not less numerous, or less admira- 
ble, than those of the renowned Knickerbocker Catalogue of 
Cosmogonies. They would be found equally so, probably, in 
the period to which ours has succeeded, were we to look for 
them in that curious old Patent Office to which ours also are 
rapidly hastening, the limbo of things lost. I shall only 
glance at one or two of them, which — incredible as the fact 
may seem, and indeed, were it not for the obvious truth of the 
observations with which this chapter commences, must appear, 
even to credulity herself, — which, I say, have been, and are, 
the source of principles of conduct, not merely of speculative 
principles, but of actual faith and practice, to men and women 
not a few. The Vestiges of Creation, which was a sort of 
nine days wonder in certain quarters, and, still lingers there 
in its effects, was doubtless the clever attempt of some literary 
Gulliver to measure the utmost dimensions of the gullibility 



41 

of that self-complacent personage, the reading Public. But 
what must have been his astonishment, and amusement, a* 
finding his line too short ; at finding himself, instead of being 
laughed at as a scientific Munchausen, revered, as another 
Newton ; at finding his dreams accepted and acted upon as 
realities ! But though this theory, such theories, might well 
be reckoned not within the sphere of sober criticism, as indeed, 
they are not, in relation to the rational understanding, yet 
their influence for evil is not small in relation to the moral 
and spiritual convictions and practical conduct and duties of 
men. Their effect is two-fold. They disturb the logical un- 
derstanding, and the feelings of many whose spiritual relations 
to the truth are right, but who are pained, disquieted, and 
sometimes thrown into distressing doubt, and fear, at sugges- 
tions which are mere puzzles to the faculty judging according 
to sense, or even at the bare possibility of mistake in regard 
to their faith in providence, in redemption, in immortality, and 
in God. What to them are the Eternal Laws, and Immutable 
Nature, and Free Development ; what to them is all visible 
beauty, though Nature were ten times more beautiful ? what 
to them the grandeur of Nature manifesting mighty power? 
what to them law, order, design, exhibiting perfect intelli- 
gence ? what though taste and intellect find in full measure 
their satisfying correlatives ; if, mean while, their highest 
spiritual intuitions and aspirations find not their correspon- 
ding object ? if an eternally productive Principle, or Law of 
development, evolving certain beneficent results, and working 
out in some cases a sort of physical retribution, has taken the 
place of the Eternal Law-giver and Judge, whom they love in 
proportion as they fear, and fear in proportion as they love 
Him. What to them this Universal Nature, and magnifi- 
cent dwelling for the earthly man, to whom God is but an 
Instrument, and to whom therefore Nature is sufficient, if the 
spiritual life find not Him who is its End. 

To those, on the contrary, a much more numerous class, to 
whom the presence of God is disquieting and unwelcome, to 



42 

whom the consciousness of moral responsibility, and the belief 
of future retribution, are a weary restraint upon their free 
development, who will gladly acknowledge their accountability 
to the Laws of Nature, so they may escape the scrutiny of an 
omniscient and just Sovereign, — as undutiful children rejoice 
to be left to the care of servants, — to these, such theories as 
exclude from the Universe a personal Deity, or, what is equal- 
ly satisfactory, admit only a Soul of the world, or some Epi- 
curean Divinity, remote, and indifferent to human conduct, or 
who leniently expunges sin, wicked, and such-like ungentle- 
manly terms from his vocabulary, and good-naturedly finds 
men only frail, erring, or unfortunate — such theories, to such 
men, are not only welcome, but, however they may outrage, 
both reason and understanding, and the deepest consciousness 
of mankind, they are, to a great extent, practically believed 
in, or at least serve as a pretext, and seeming source of princi- 
ples, for the course of conduct already chosen, and so remove, 
or diminish, that restless disquiet of a wholly una]>peased 
conscience, whose tendency was to drive them towards the 
truth. 

But, of all the recent theories of development and progress, 
that which seems to have most influence at present, especially 
in relation to the peculiar apocatastatic movement which it is 
the main purpose of this tract to consider, is entitled " The 
Principles of Nature." It may, indeed, by the fairest analo- 
gy, be reckoned the Epicurean modification of the Vestiges of 
Creation. In its coarse materialism, and in its moral aspect 
and bearings, with its incessant small-talk of virtue and be- 
nevolence, while it saps the whole foundation of human virtue, 
it is strictly, and even plagiaristically, Epicurean. It has 
simply superadded to the Epicurean theory what it calls the 
immortality of the soul, but which would more properly be 
called the eternal mortality of the soul, for it is only its mor- 
tal life prolonged. By making man, body and soul, — for 
spirit by the theory he has none, — the material product of 
material forces and manipulations, a kind of chemico-me- 



43 

chanical result, — material Laws ! ! think of that ye medita- 
ting atoms, — and subjecting him wholly, and only, to the laws 
of Nature, it divests him of all distinctive humanity, and 
makes him simply, — snatching the sceptre from the Lion's 
grasp, — the "King of Beasts." By denying to man all moral 
character and responsibility, all spiritual relations of course 
cease to exist ; conscience is only the product of priestcraft, 
God- is only the soul of the world, and man holds the same 
relation to him, — or to it rather, — as a tree, or mineral, ex- 
cept that the evolution in him of the quality of locomotion, 
and the distillation of a very refined and subtile matter called 
prudence, or forethought, render him, in a somewhat different 
way from that of the tree, physically accountable for the phys- 
ical relations in which he voluntarily places himself. Re- 
ligion there can be none ; and the "progress" of the human 
animal, as indicated by the theory, is such, that the wolves 
among them would, in due time, in this world or the next, be- 
come good household dogs, tigers would be transformed to 
domestic cats, the large fishes would cease to eat the small 
ones, the hawks to devour the chickens, the crows to pull what 
they did not plant, and ultimately all would arrive at a most 
comfortable zoological paradise. This, it must be acknowl- 
edged, is a step beyond Epicurus, by the addition of plenty 
of time for the proposed progress ; but, unluckily for the 
theory, the progress of most persons is in the opposite direc- 
tion, from better to worse, but this is mostly owing to religion, 
circumstances will, doubtless, be more favorable in the next 
sphere, where there is probably no religion, as there will be 
none here when this theory is universally adopted. His ad- 
mirers may then appropriate to the author of it the triumph- 
ant language of the great commentator upon Epicurus in re- 
gard to him ; 

— Omne immensum peragravit mente animoque, 
Unde refert nobis victor, quid possit oriri, 
Quid nequeat ; finita potestas denique quoique 
Qua nam sit ratione, atque alte terminus haerens- 



44 

Qua re Religio, pedibus subjecta, vicissini 
Obteritur, nos excequat victoria coelo. 

Lucretius De Rerum Natura, Lib. i. 75-80. 

With clairvoyant vision he surveyed immensity, returning 
thence triumphant, laden for us with rich spoils, to wit : the 
power to know what events are possible, and what are impos- 
sible ; the law of each finite evolution ; and what yet remains 
latent and undeveloped ; whereby Religion, trampled in the 
dust, is, in its turn, vanquished ; the victory places us on 
equal terms ivith heaven." This language is quite as appli- 
cable to the author of the Principles of Nature, and of the 
Great Harmonia, as to Epicurus himself ; at least in the pe- 
culiar mental regions where his influence is felt, as it is just 
now pretty extensively. The essential quality of these theo- 
ries, the same in both, which renders them so inviting to nine 
tenths of those who would fain believe them, and do practically 
believe in them, is the delightful anodyne to the conscience 
which they administer, the deliverance from the heavy incubus 
of religion, and from the bondage of the fear of death, which 
they bestow, and the liberty which they confer, of free, spon- 
taneous, development, without the chilling drawback of a fu- 
ture account to give. For if there be no God, or if the 
" Divine Nature" sit apart in careless self-enjoyment, 

" Ipsa suis pollens opibus, nihil indiga nostri, 
Nee bene promeritis capitur, nee tangitur ira, 

Lucretius De Rerum Natura, Lib. i, 61-2. 

itself sufficient to itself, desiring nothing of us, and neither 
regards our virtues, nor is displeased at our vices ;" what a 
delightful relief to many men, if not to most men, to believe 
that they are thus free to make the most of nature, every man 
according to his taste, responsible only to nature ; and that 
they may thus have the full enjoyment of whatever their tal- 
ents and tastes may enable and prompt them to compass and 
acquire, unmitigated, and unalloyed, by the uninvited presence 
of any horrid Nemesis, or by the intrusive thought of a 
judgment to come. Not that those who are disposed to adopt 



45 

atheistic, or rather, rathurnotheistic theories,are always persons 
of more than ordinarily depraved or vicious character ; on the 
contrary they are often men of amiable and benevolent dis- 
position, quite exemplary, it may be, in regard to the second 
commandment, — though assuredly very little developed in the 
consciousness of their spiritual relations, — who in discarding 
or enervating the idea of retribution, are thinking rather of its 
relation to others, than to themselves ; but even to such, their 
theory, in proportion as they really believe in it, is like an 
emergence from gloom and shadow to a warmer and more 
cheering light ; for to those who know not, or love not, above 
all things, the religion which exhibits the character of God 
as elevated above all human thought, and unyielding as fate 
itself, in its moral attributes, — to such, this religion is, and 
has ever been, that gravis Religio, 

Quae caput a coeli regionibus obtendebat, 
Horribili super adspectu mortalibus instans. 

Lucretius de Rerum Natura, Lib. i. 65-6. 

Her head who high towards heaven uplifting proud, 
With dreadful aspect frowns on mortal men. 

These theories of mere nature-evolution, and, of course, — 
except in a physical sense — of irresponsible development for 
man, and of ever new unfolding, and upliftings of the veil of 
Nature, to be expected — this expectation more sparingly ex- 
pressed in the ancient theory, though equally implied there as 
in the modern, for if nature has evolved thus much after infi- 
nite experiments, what reason to suppose that she intends no 
more experiments ? indeed Lucretius expressly says, 

Sic igitur mundi naturam totius setas 

Mutat, et ex alio terram status excepit alter ; 

Quod potuit nequeat ; possit, quod non tulit ante. 

(Lib. v. 832-4) which Good translates more correctly 
than common ; 

" So time transmutes the total world's vast frame, 
From state to state urged on, now void of powers 
Erst known, and boasting those unknown before." 

— these theories of evolution and expectation, and all essen- 



46 

tially godless, though they may not have given birth, at least 
not wholly, to the opinions and practices of their respective 
periods, which are about to be compared ; certainly have pro- 
moted them, both by removing all moral restraint in regard to 
practices, many of which in all times have been commonly 
held to be impious ; and- by awakening, or stimulating, espe- 
cially in the modern instance, a vague, restless and at the 
same time, profane curiosity. Such views of nature, and of 
man's relation to God, in concert with the, anciently, wide- 
spread, and in the present period, widely spreading, notions in 
regard to man's relations to disembodied spirits, certainly 
were, and are, a fitting preparation, in the minds of those who 
admit them, for the spirit-fanaticism, the epidemic necroman- 
cy, and other methods of divination, which are characteristic 
alike, both of the ancient, and the present periods. 



CHAPTER V. 



" He holds him with his glittering eye — 

The wedding-guest stood still, 
And listens like a three years' child, 

The Mariner hath his will." 

The Ancient Mariner. 



The ancients -were, undoubtedly, well acquainted with the 
phenomena which are the result of what is now called mes- 
merism, biology, clairvoyance &c. ; and which were then the 
effect of the same causes known by the names of fascination, 
enchantment, divination, magic, &c. The power thus ac- 
quired by one person over another was probably made use of 
for unlawful purposes, since the practice of these impious arts, 
as they were then accounted, was forbidden on pain of death. 
That the ancients knew how to produce mesmeric effects by 
the eye alone is often implied, and not very unfrequently 
expressed, by contemporary authors. This was called fasci- 
nation, (fascinatio, (Satfxavia, as if from (jastfCi xaivsiv, to kill with 
the eyes) though this word was not appropriated exclusively 
to effects produced by the eye. Certain kinds of praise which 
were intended to injure, and were supposed to prove pernicious 
to, their object, were called also fascination. Not in the sense 



48 

in which we sometimes speak of one being fascinated and 
spoiled, by flattery or excessive praise ; but the notion was 
precisely the same as still exists in Eastern countries where 
mothers, in evident alarm, snatch their children from the 
presence of strangers who express admiration of them. It 
seems difficult to conjecture the origin of such an opinion, 
the ground of such fears, unless we suppose that the praise 
was considered as a kind of lure, while the child was being 
brought under the power of the "evil eye." Something more 
than this, however, is implied in the following quotation, since 
we can hardly suppose inanimate objects to be injured by any 
neuropathic effects. "Isigonus and Nymphodorus assert that 
there are certain families in Africa who have the power of 
fascination by praise (laudatione) — that whatever is praised 
by them perishes, — trees wither — children die." (Plinii Na- 
tur. Histor. Lib. vii. 2.) From the time of the elder Pliny to 
the present is a pretty long period for a wholly groundless 
notion to have sustained itself. " Isigonus adds that there 
are persons of the same kind among the Treballians and II- 
lyrians, who fascinate by the eye also, and that they even 
cause the death of those upon whom they look long and in- 
tently, especially if with an expression of anger ; and that 
the young more readily feel their pernicious influence." (Idem 
Ibidem.) Appollonides also relates that there are women of 
this sort in Scythia. Phylarchus says there are many poss- 
essed of a similar power in Pontus." (Idem Ibidem.) These 
quotations show expressly that the mesmeric power of the 
eye was anciently well known and exercised ; the following 
imply the same thing, in such-wise as to furnish equally 
strong proof of its existence. " Why do we as a defence 
against fascination nse a peculiar form of adoration ; invoking 
the Grecian Nemesis? whose statue is, on that account^ 
placed in the Capitol at Rome." (Idem, Lib. xxviii. 5.) "The 
skin of the forehead of the hyena is reckoned a defence 
against fascination." (Idem Lib. xxviii. 27) " I know not 
whose eye has fascinated my tender lambs." (Virg. Ec. iii. 103) 



49 

The Romans even had a god, Fascinus hj name, who was 
not, however, as usual, the patron of the rogues whose name 
he bore : but — at least so I infer from his being called ''Gus- 
tos infantum. " the protector of children, — the defender of 
others against their power. (Plinii Nat. Hist. 28. 7) 

I have not met with any examples of the mesmeric state 
being induced by passes after the present fashion, except one 
or two of doubtful interpretation, which therefore I shall not 
bring forward. The common method of mesmerising among 
the ancients seems to have been by means of music, and es- 
pecially singing, hence called incantation and enchantment. 
I will adduce some specimens of it from the defence of Apu- 
leius before a Roman judge on being accused of magic. The 
chief point of the accusation was, that, he was in the habit of 
what we should call mesmerising, or biologizing, a certain boy, 
and the evidence relied upon was, that, the boy was accus- 
tomed to swoon or fall down in his presence. After disposing 
of some minor points of the charge, which were plainly frivo- 
lous or incredible, he proceeds as follows : " They, therefore, 
(the accusers) fabricated a story consonant with common opin- 
ion and report, viz : that a certain boy, having been taken to a 
secret apartment, before a small altar and lamp, — no one being 
permitted to be present except a few who were in the plot,— - 
was subjected to a magical incantation, (carmine cantatum) 
and that when he felt the influence of the charm, (ubi incan- 
tatus sit) he swooned away ; (corruisse, went into a magnetic 
sleep,) that, afterwards, he was aroused from a state of un- 
consciousness. This is as far as they dared to go with the lie. 
But in order to make a whole story of it, they ought to have 
added that this same boy became possessed of a divining pow- 
efj so as to foretell future events ; for the object of such in- 
cantations is presage and divination. And this marvel in re- 
lation to boys is confirmed, not merely by vulgar opinion, but 
by the authority of learned men. For I remember to have 
read in Varro the philosopher, a man most accurately learned 
and erudite, among other things of the same kind, the fol- 



50 

lowing ; that, some persons at Tralles, endeavoring to ascer- 
tain the event of the Mithridatic war by means of magical 
inquisition ; a boy, looking intently upon the image of Mercu- 
ry in water, chanted a hundred and sixty verses expressive 
of what was future. Also that Fabius, having lost five hun- 
dred denarii, went to consult Nigidius ; that, boys, subjected 
by him to the influence of the magical chant, described the 
place where the purse with a part of the money was concealed, 
said that the remainder was spent, and that one denarius was 
in the possession of Marcus Cato the philosopher, which Cato 
confessed he had received from a footman as a contribution to 
the temple of Apollo. These, and other things, I have read, 
indeed, in many authors, concerning magical boys, but I am 
undecided in opinion whether I shall admit or deny the possi- 
bility of them. I believe, however, with Plato, that between 
gods and men in nature and in rank, there exist certain inter- 
mediate divine beings, and that divination and all magical 
miracles are under their control. I believe, moreover, that 
the human mind, and especially that of the child, which is 
pure, can, by the soothing power of song or of odors, be cast 
into a profound sleep and become oblivious of things present, 
and that, forgetting the body, it can, for a short time, be re- 
stored and return to its proper nature, that is, to an immortal 
and divine nature, and that so, veluti quodam sopore, it is en- 
abled to presage the future. But, in order that these things 
may be so, it is requisite, as I understand, that a boy be selec- 
ted of fair and unblemished form, of ingenuous and active mind 
and ready speech, so that, either the divine agent may lodge 
within as in a fit temple, if indeed we may worthily suppose 
such an agent to be present in the body of the boy ; or else, 
the mind itself, being aroused, is suddenly restored to its in- 
herent power of presage ; which power is readily resumed, 
being immediately developed, when the mind is no longer 
weakened and obtunded by the oblivious influences of the 
body. But not from every wood, as Pj'thagoras says, should 
Mercury be carved." ( Apuleius, de Magia, Oratio.) I desire 



51 

to commend the contents of this curious extract to the es- 
pecial consideration of the connoisseurs and participants, both 
embodied, and disembodied, of the present apocatastatic 
iteration of the like. What say you, ye boggling, clumsy, 
christian ghosts, spelling out your inanities letter by letter, 
rap by rap, or tip by tip ; to the hundred and sixty verses, 
and good hexameters too, I dare say, and spoken, ore rotundo, 
pregnant -with the fate of the mighty king of Pontus. How is 
it that you are, with now and then an exception, so inferior to 
your apocatastatic copy 1 Is Mercury dead with Pan, and 
all the old experienced oracle-utterers gone extinct ? or have 
they gone to upper spheres, and given place to mere begin- 
ners 1 Consider the advice of Pythagoras, whether it might 
not be of service to you, for surely your Messengers are often 
made of very soft materials. And you, gentlemen Spiritists, 
especially you who develop and consecrate mediums, would it 
not be well for the new dispensation if you should follow a 
little more the ancient practice, and select handsome talented 
boys, whose souls dwell loosely in their clay, and can at any 
moment steal out and take a peep through time and space, 
and so become truly clairvoyant ? or, if you prefer the other 
theory, be found a congruous receptacle, and well adapted in- 
strument, for some supernal presence ? — these, rather than 
maidens. Pythonesses, or unmaidens so enveloped in 
their mortal coil that they can find no egress, "immersed in 
matter," such matter too that none but an unclean spirit would 
choose to enter it. Consider too, gentlemen, the modest non- 
committalism of this ancient demibeliever in, and truly phi- 
losophic critic of, such phenomena. That there are spirits, 
and that there is a spirit in these cases, he believes with 
Plato, but whether the spirit goes out or comes in, on that 
point, he modestly declines to be dogmatic. Would not an 
unbiassed observer of our "modern instances" — with whatever 
humility and doubt he might dissent from your belief — lean 
strongly to the opinion that, at least in our own time, the 
spirit goes out ? 



It is obvious, from the above quotation, that the methods of 
divination there referred to, were sufficiently common among 
the Romans, though from the fact of their being accounted 
impious, and declared to be unluwful, they -were of course less 
public than at present, and the authors "who seem to have 
treated most fully of them have not come down to us. "We 
can, however, I think, make out most of the details of the 
process by which the magnetic sleep was induced, and the de- 
sired responses to questions, or other communications, obtain- 
ed. The author of the foregoing extract goes on to exculpate 
himself from the charge of magic, by showing that the boy, 
who was said to fall down in his presence, was subject to epi- 
leptic fits, that he was a coarse, stupid, vulgar, sickly child, 
not at all up to the Pythagorean definition of a Mercury ; 
then addressing his accuseds he says : — "A fine lad truly you 
have chosen for one to bring before the altar, on whose head 
to place ones hands (caput contingat) whom to robe in the 
pure pallium, from whom to expect responses !" (responsum 
speret !) It is, I think, implied in this last quotation, that 
the hands were also used in magnetising, as well as the voicej 
and probably the eyes at the same time. The following, then, 
cannot be far from a correct picture of an ancient sitting or 
circle, at least, where the method was by what they called 
incantation or enchantment. A dark and secret apartment, 
the smoking altar, the small pale lamp, the fuming incense 
diffusing Sabaean odors, the little cluster of earnest faces 
turned towards the handsome young Medium, who sits before 
the altar robed in the pure, white linen, pallium, sacred to re- 
ligious rites, — in front of him the Magus, his hand upon the 
young man's head, his serpent eyes fixed on his face, his voice 
uttering the low wailing magic chant, — the boy sleeps, — he 
responds to the Sorcerer — -he speaks hexameters, — he (or some 
Spirit in him) utters oracles ! Such was one of the ancient 
methods of getting answers to curious questions. 

But there were, besides those described by Apuleius, other 
methods of inducing the clairvoyant state, of putting the soul 



of the Medium en rapport with the distant or the future. 
The following is a specimen. " He (Isodorus) met with a 
consecrated woman (yuvouxi fep«, priestess ?) who possessed a 
supernatural endowment after a wonderful manner. For. 
having poured pure water into a glass vessel, she beheld in 
the water the phantasms ((patf.uu-Tc) of future events, and by 
means of the vision foretold with certainty what was about to 
take place. I have also myself, witnessed the same thing. 
(Ex Isodori Philosophi Vita, Damascio Auctore, apud Pho- 
tium.) 

There is nothing said here of incantation, as there is not in 
the case of the boy who responded in hexameters while look- 
ing at an image in water instead of into water itself ; but that 
it was sometimes used in connexion with this fixing of the 
eyes, this staring process of abstraction, is shown by the next 
quotation. It shows also that these — at that time — illicit 
practices had found their way into very respectable society. 
The questioner here is a Roman Emperor, very desirous to 
ascertain whether he was to continue to sport the imperial 
purple which he had honestly bought with his money, or 
whether he was about to exchange it for a "stone coat." "Ju- 
lian was guilty ol the folly of consulting the Magicians &c. — 
They immolated certain victims not consonant with the cus- 
toms of Roman sacrifice, and chanted profane incantations ; 
also those things which are said to be done at the mirror, in 
which boys, their eyes being blindfolded, are said to see with 
the top of the head by means of incantations uttered over it, 
(incantato vertice) Julian had recourse to : whereupon the boy 
is said to have beheld the approach of Severus, and the death 
of Julian." (Spartian. Vita. Jul. Did.) 

There is some obscurity in regard to the exact process here, 
but I think the supposition may have been that the boy was 
to direct his eyes, at least mentally, as if to gaze into the 
mirror through the top of his head, for he is said to look into, 
or look back (respicere) into, the mirror at the top of his head.. 

Let us, next, look at a few specimens of self-magnetization, 



54 

or spontaneous clairvoyance. The most celebrated, and in- 
deed, world-renowned, manifestations of this kind made their 
appearance in certain prescient females, called Sibyls, at va- 
rious times, and in various places, of the ancient heathen 
world. They are said to have written their oracles (xgrfipoi) 
upon the leaves of trees as the spirit of divination came upon 
them. If so, one of them at least, must have thought hers 
worth copying, for the historian relates that she offered them 
for sale to the Romans in nine books, (BiSXovs svi/sa) and when 
they thought the price too high she burned three and still de- 
manded the same price for the six ; being still refused she 
burned three more and demanded still the same price for the 
remaining three, — she was evidently good at a bargain, if not 
at vaticination, — they were now purchased, and found, or 
supposed, to have such important relations to the future des- 
tinies of Rome, that they were preserved, with more care 
than any other sacred deposit, says the historian. Ten dis- 
tinguished citizens were set apart, exempt from military and 
civil duties, for the purpose of taking care of them, without 
whoni they could never be seen, being preserved in a stone 
coffer, under ground, (xara yr\s) in the temple of the Capitolian 
Jupiter. They were alwaj^s consulted in important delibera- 
tions of the senate, and whenever danger from without or 
from within threatened the State. (Dionyss. Halicarnass. L. 
iv. 62) These genuine -Sibylline xp 7 )^ ' were destroyed, — 
fatal omen ! when the Capitol was burned in Sylla's time, just 
at the commencement of that "sterile period" ushered in by 
the "mournful sound of the trumpet :" — a period, like our own, 
and all other sterile periods, doomed to subsist on make-be- 
lieves, and all sorts of supposititions, and illegitimacies. The 
degenerate, and degenerating Romans, therefore, instead of 
rousing themselves to carve their own future destiny, sent 
ambassadors to various parts of Europe and Asia, to ask 
leave to copy, for the Roman People, whatever Sibylline frag- 
ments — for the most part, not true Sibyllina, but old wives 
fables, and other witch-droppings they might find there. 



These it was that the Medium-led statesmen, of the remaining 
days of the Republic, consulted, quarreled over, forged, inter- 
preted, and mis-interpreted, each to his own purpose, precisely 
as our old women do the Constitution ; and precisely as mis- 
called American statesmen "will, nay do, proh pudor, et nefas 
apocatastaticum ! ! "consult the spirits,''' in the American 
Capitol. 

However, it is plain from the record and the conduct of 
men, that there were in those days clairvoyant women who 
could see with the top of the head, or in some other anomo- 
lous way, or at least, — which is sufficient for my present pur- 
pose, — that people, at that time, supposed they had sufficient 
reason to think so. 

But this endowment was not peculiar to women, men also 
not unfrequently exhibited the same. The following are from 
"The Life" of that ancient Swedenborg, or Davis, Apollonius 
Tyanensis. He was on a visit to the Sages of India for the 
purpose of perfecting himself in philosophy and theurgy, 
not yet, it seems, "fully developed," magnetically. Having 
made known his purpose, the Superior of the philosophic fra- 
ternity said to him : " It is the custom of others to inquire of 
those who visit them, who they are, and for what purpose they 
come ; but with us the first evidence of wisdom is that we are 
not ignorant of those who come to us. So saying he gave ac- 
count both of the paternal and maternal families of Apollo- 
nius, — of all he did at Aegae, — how Damis came to him, of 

their conversation on the journey, and of what they heard 
from others. All this he related readily and fluently as if he 
hail himself been a companion of the journey. Anollonius 
being astonished and inquiring how he obtained such knowl- 
edge I (such power of knowing) you also, said he, possess the 
same endowment but not yet in perfection." (Philostrat. Vita 
Apollonii Tyanensis L. iii. C. 16.) His psychometric faculty 
enabled him to see that Apollonius was capable of "becoming 
a good Medium." Accordingly, we find him, after his return 
from India, — the Brahmins probably mesmerised him a few 



m 

times — quite well "developed." For discoursing one day at 
Ephesus in a grove near the city, a flock of birds was observed 
sitting quietly upon a tree — shortly there arrived another 
bird emitting a peculiar note, whereupon the whole flock set 
up a cry and flew away. The auditors noticing and wonder- 
ing at the conduct of the birds ; Apollonius interrupted his 
discourse and said, that, "a boy — near a gate of the city, 
which he named, — carrying a vessel of grain, had fallen down 
and spilled it, and having left much of it on the ground was 
gone away ; — that the bird, happening to be near, and ob- 
serving this, had come to inform his companions that they 
might partake of his good fortune. Many of the company 
thereupon hastened to satisfy themselves of the truth of the 
statement, — Apollonius, meantime, going on with his dis- 
course. Soon they returned shouting, and filled with admi 
ration &c." (Idem L. iv. 3) The next specimen is instructive, 
especially to the faculty ; but as I have promised to be brief, 
I must abbreviate it somewhat. Apollonius being at Tarsus, 
a young man was brought to him, — for he was a healing me- 
dium as well as a clairvoyant, — who, thirty days before, had 
been bitten by a mad dog. He commanded the dog to be 
brought to him. But, as the accident had occurred when the 
boy was out of the city, none of those about him had seen the 
doa;, and he himself had not observed him so as to be able to 
describe or distinguish him. Thereupon Apollonius, retract- 
ing himself, withdrawing himself inwards, (sTrirf^wv, stopping 
the outer machinery and taking on the interior state,) " 0, 
Damis, said he, the dog is white, shaggy, large, and resem- 
bles the Amphilochian breed. He stands trembling near a 
certain fountain, (naming the fountain) very desirous, and 
at the same time afraid, to drink. Bring him hither to me, 
saying to him only that it is I who summons him. Being con- 
ducted to him, accordingly, by Damis, the dog threw himself 
at the feet of Apollonius, whining, (or weeping, xXaiwv) Apol- 
lonius patted and soothed him, and bringing him to the boy he 
commanded him to lick the bite, in order that the remedy 



57 

might be the same thing as that which had produced the dis- 
ease." (Idem L. vi. 43) 0, Hahneman ! Great Itch-Couipeller ! 
Solomon was right ! and your honors are also in danger, for 
yours, it is plain is, after all, only an apocatastatic homoeopa- 
thy ! One specimen more, — out of a great number recorded 
in his Life, — of the clairvoyant powers of this capital old 
Medium is all my limits Avill permit. He was again at Ephe- 
sus discoursing near the city, when hesitating, and then ceas- 
ing to speak, as when one forgets what he was going to say 
next ; he looked fiercely upon the ground, strode forwards 
thaee or four steps, and, "strike the tyrant ! strike !" he ex- 
claimed. And when all Ephesus, (most of the citizens being 
present) was astonished at his conduct ; — courage, my friends, 
said he, for this very day the tyrant is slain, this day, did I 
say, nay, at the very moment that I stopped speaking. Soon 
as there was time for the news to arrive it was found, accord- 
ingly, that just at that hour, Domitian was assassinated at 
Rome. (Idem, L. viii. C. 26.) 

I must not omit to insert here another example of clairvoy- 
ance from the life of our friend Iamblichus, just to show that 
he also was an Adept in the occult sciences, or an Expert, as 
the lawyers say, for we shall have to call him upon the stand 
as a witness in that character bye and bye. " Iamblichus 
went with his disciples to sacrifice, in one of the suburbs of 
the city ; and after the sacrifice was performed they returned 
to town, gently walking along, and discoursing concerning the 
gods, as a subject very proper for the occasion. Then Iam- 
blichus, who Avas perfectly lost in thought in the midst of the 
discourse, whose voice was fallen, and eyes immovably fixed 
on the earth, turned to his companions and exclaimed : " Let 
us take another road, for not far from hence is a funeral pro- 
cession." Iamblichus, accordingly, chose a purer way, and 
was accompanied by a few of his disciples ; the rest, doubt- 
ing, went forward and met the procession, &c." (Eunapii Vita 
Iamblichi.) It would be easy to add the record of many more 
similar manifestations from the fabulous lives of still more 



58 

ancient sages as Pythagoras, Orpheus, &c., but as these are 
suspicious, for more reasons than one, and as I propose to 
deal only with veritable and Avell attested facts, I shall pass 
them by. 

But these are, as it were, mere amateur performances, the 
private and illicit doings of unconsecrated and profane peo- 
ple, intrusively attempting the functions which properly ap- 
pertained to others. The public religion sought to keep such 
things under its own control. All legal Mediums were conse- 
crated and religiously set apart to their office. Among these, 
by far the most celebrated, and most frequently consulted, 
was the priestess of Apollo at Delphi, or as she was often 
called, the Pythia, and sometimes Pythoness. The theory 
was that Apollo spoke through her voice. But it is obvious 
that, in so far as she possessed any powers of privesion or 
clairvoyance, they originated in the same way as in the case of 
the enchanted boys ; that is, the induction of the magnetic, or 
trance state, was an indispensable condition of their develop- 
ment ; and this state was induced by essentially the same 
means. When she was about to give oracular responses she 
entered a cave in the mountain over which the Delphic Tem- 
ple was built, — she was placed in the basket or basket-shaped 
seat of the sacred tripod, which, being open at the bottom, 
st3D-l over a rent or crevice in the rock from which issued a 
mephitic vapor, — she drank of the inspiring water of the 
Castalian Spring — she was enclosed with branches of laurel 
whose leaves she chewed — before her was the altar of the God 
— the air was loaded with the fumes and fragrance of burning 
incense — the music of trumpets and other instruments resoun- 
ded through the cavern, — -around her stood the priests and 
other servants of Apollo, and those to whom the response was 
to be given, — she became unconscious, went into the magnetic 
state, (hence the phrase iv SXjjlw xoi/xatfiki, to sleep in the hollow 
of the tripod, signified to prophesy,) — but soon the god him- 
self, duly invoked, arrived, and took possession and control of 
the organs of the Pythia — she was now inspired with a "divine 



59 

fury or rage," she became agitated, convulsed, tore her hair, 
foamed at the mouth, until at length the excitement found vent 
in the utterance of pure Greek hexameters, which contained 
or constituted the oracular responses to the questions proposed, 
which were enclosed in sealed envelopes and known only to 
the questioner. At least, in the more ancient periods, the 
responses were always in hexameter verses, but afterwards in 
prose ; which fact caused no little trouble to the believers in 
plenary inspiration, and who held that the spirit "came in" 
instead of going out ; — for why should the god of music and 
poetry forget how to make verses 1 However, we shall see 
bye and bye that they had a way of accounting for it. Here 
is evidence of clairvoyance, at least, and on a pretty large 
scale, if we consider the extent of Apollo's correspondence, the 
number of letters from all parts of the world which were an- 
swered without opening them. As to the correctness of the 
answers, and their coincidence with events, though it must be 
confessed that they were sometimes a little equivocal, Cicero 
says (De Divinatione Lib. i/xviii) that Chrysippus collected 
innumerable oracles the truth of everyone of which was con- 
firmed by most abundant testimony. A specimen or two must 
suffice ; and lest some infidel sceptic should suspect that the 
seals of some of those envelopes were in the habit of being 
tampered with, I will select those which shall put all his 
doubts to shame, and to flight. Listen to the father of histo- 
ry. "Croesus, king of Lydia, wishing to test the powers of 
the Pythia, sent messengers to Delphi with directions to in- 
quire, on a certain day, what the king of the Lydians was 
doing. * * No sooner had the Lydians entered the 

temple to consult the god, and to ask the question comman- 
ded, than the Pythia uttered the following in hexameter 
verses : 

" I know the number of the sands, and the measure of the 
sea ; I know what the dumb would say, I hear him who speaks 
not. There comes to me the odor of tortoise and lamb's 
flesh seething together in a brass vessel ; beneath the flesh 



60 

is brass, there is also brass above." This oracle being re- 
corded, the messengers returned to Sardis. Croesus read and 
was satisfied. * * * * For after he had sent the messengers 
to consult the oracle, on the appointed day, he hit upon the 
following to be done, as something which he supposed might 
be difficult to detect and describe : — cutting up a tortoise and 
a lamb, he boiled them together in a brazen vessel which also 
had a cover of brass." (Herodotus, Clio.) The Pythia must 
have been, in this case, extremely clairvoyant, or else have 
had excessively acute olfactories, have been clairolfacient. 

When the Gauls under Brennus were, apparently, about to 
destroy the Temple 'at Delphi, the god being consulted, the 
Pythia answered from the Oracle : " /, and the wltite vu'gins 
will see to that matter." Whereupon the Gauls, being 
seized Avith a panic in a snow-storm among the mountains, 
fled or perished in the snow. (Cicero de Divinatione Lib. i. 
87) This is a very unexceptionable example of the combina- 
tion of prescience with clairvoyance, for which the Pythia was 
famed, beyond all her compeers. 

The following is a specimen of equivoque, or double enten- 
dre, like the still more famous response to Croesus ; who, 
when inquiring if he should be successful against the Persians 
was told, that, if he crossed the Halys, he should destroy a 
great kingdom. '• When however, on consulting Apollo at 
Delphi, he was advised to beware of the seventy-third year, 
supposing he was to live until that period, and not thinking 
of the age of Galba, he was filled with confidence &c." (Sue- 
tonius Vita Neronis c. 40) Croesus, by crossing the river, 
destroyed his own kingdom ; and Nero, instead of living to 
his seventy third year, w T as destroyed by Galba who was 
seventy-three years of age. The celebrated response to 
Pyrrhus, "Aio te, Aeacida, Romanos vincere posse" was 
another of the same sort. The poor Pythia has, I think, been 
ridiculed without reason, and her credit very unjustly im- 
peached on account of these and such-like utterances. For, 
it is manifest, that the double meaning in such cases is an 



CI 

essential condition of the truth of the prediction, otherwise 
the prophecy would defeat its own fulfilment and so prove 
false. Such cases, therefore, instead of discrediting, ought to ' 
confirm the clairvoyant character, of the prophetess, — it was 
her business to see the future, not to change it. 

The Pythia, however, though first in rank, possessed no 
peculiar powers, but was only one among innumerable others, 
in the service of the ancient religions, who, in various ways, 
evinced the possession of the same. " The religion of this 
temple (that of the Deus Heliopolitanus in Syria) excels in 
divination. The absent consult this God by sending sealed 
letters ; and answers are given, in order, to their contents. 
Thus the Emperor Trajan, being about to enter Parthia from 
this province, and being desired by his friends to inquire in 
regard to the event of the undertaking, excercised Roman 
prudence by first testing the powers of the Oracle, lest he 
might be imposed upon. First, therefore, he sent sealed let- 
ters to which he desired a reply in writing. The God com- 
manded paper to be brought, sealed blank, and sent ; the 
priests being astonished at that sort of reply, because they 
were ignorant of the character of the (Trajan's) letters. 
Trajan received the answer with great admiration because he 
also had sent blank tablets to the God. He then sent other 
sealed letters inquiring whether he should return to Rome 
after finishing the war. The god directed a vine to be cut in 
pieces, wrapt in linen, and carried to him, signifying, as the 
event proved, that his bones were to be carried back to Rome." 
(Macrobius Saturnal. L. i. c. 23.) 

Such specimens of divination are found scattered throu^h- 
out ancient history, besides "innumerable" instances of it, 
which, according to Cicero and Apuleius, were recorded but 
have not come down to us ; but these examples are perhaps 
sufficient (I have promised to be brief) to prove the existence, 
and illustrate the character, of the ancient clairvoyance, at 
least as manifested by oral communications. I shall have 



62 

occasion to bring forward other forms of it under a different 
head. 

The following quotation, from one well acquainted with the 
subject, shows pretty conclusively, the identity of the influ- 
ence which affected these vaticinating people with the present 
animal magnetism, or Mesmerism, or spirit-influence. "I wish 
to point out to you the signs by which those who are rightly 
possessed by the gods may be known. — * * * they neither 
energize according to sense, nor are in such a vigilant state 
as those who have their senses excited from sleep ; nor are 
they moved as those who energize according to impulse. Nor 
again are they conscious of the state they are in, neither as 
they were before, nor in any other Avay ; nor, in short, do they 
exert any knowlege, which is peculiarly their own. The 
greatest indication, however, of the truth of this is the follow- 
ing : Many, through divine inspiration, are not burned when 
fire is introduced to them, the inspiring influence preventing 
the fire from touching them. Many also, though burned, do 
not apprehend that they are so, because they do not then live 
an animal life. And some, indeed, though transfixed with 
spits do not perceive it ; but others that are struck on the 
shoulders with axes, and others that have their arms cut with 
knives, are by no means conscious of what is done to them. 
From these things it is demonstrated that those who ener- 
gize enthusiastically are not conscious of the state they are 
in, and that they neither live a human, nor an animal, life, ac- 
cording to sense or impulse, but that they exchange this for a 
certain more divine life, by which they are inspired and per- 
fectly possessed." (Iamblichus de Mysteriis.) 

I had intended to exhibit manifestations parallel to those 
contained in this chapter, from the writings of the spiritists of 
the present time ; but the parallelism here, in all essential 
particulars, is so obvious to all who have even but the most 
superficial acquaintance with the subject, that I shall save my- 
self the trouble of transcribing, and the reader that of peru- 
sing, what must be already abundantly familiar to him. The 



63 

fascination by the eye is what any one may witness, and most 
have often witnessed, at biological lectures and other such-like 
exhibitions, or at the " Circles ; : ' — to be fatally fascinated by 
praise is a thing not at all rare in the present times, though 
I must confess, that I am not personally cognizant of any in- 
stance in which trees have been made to wither and die from 
that cause alone, — there is a point in the ancient magic which 
is not yet, I think, re-developed — the enchanted boys are only 
specimens of magnetisation by a different method, although 
indeed, the chant is still sometimes used for that purpose ; — 
the Pythia was merely a good Medium ; — such cases as those 
of Apollonius and others are not uncommon, even since 
Swedenborg, — and Sibyls we have in every village. Of the 
aqua-clairvoyance I shall have more to say in another chap- 
ter. 



CHAPTER VI. 



Q,ui rore puro Castaliae lavit 
Crines solutos, ***** Apollo. 

Horat. Carmin. L. iii. v. 

Who bathes his flowing hair in pure 
Castalian dew 1 — Apollo. 



Let us next examine some other facts of the ancient Spirit- 
ism, of a somewhat different character, and see whether they 
also are sufficiently analogous to those of the present Spirit- 
ism to prove their apocatastatical relation to each other. The 
first quotation which I shall bring forward, I desire to make 
use of for a double purpose, viz : as a specimen of spirit-wri- 
ting, and of that quality of certain ancient waters, which con- 
fered the power of divination, and induced the clairvoyant 
state, a quality, in this respect, precisely like that of magnet- 
ized water in our time. The ancient spirits, so far as I have 
hitherto ascertained, were not accustomed to make use of the 
Medium's hand for writing communications, except in the case 
of the poet, who was supposed to be the writing-medium and 
amanuensis of the Muses ; and with one other remarkable 
exception viz : that of the Sibyls. These ladies were a sort 



65 

of female hermits, who lived in forests, mountains, and caves, 
in various places and countries, and gave responses in writing 

to those who consulted them, just as Mrs C at B 

Mrs S at M and so many others at other places, do 

at present. They seem to have written too, when not consul- 
ted ; for the good of posterity or whomsoever it might con- 
cern, whenever the spirit tock them by the arm : so that they 
were obliged to write upon the leaves of trees or whatever 
came to hand. These xp^rf.yoi have, unfortunately, all, or near- 
ly all, perished ; although we have plenty of counterfeits ; 
their great value and authority in ancient times leading to 
very extensive forgeries of them. 

In other instances, the spirits who had acquired povyer to 
control the Medium's muscles, commonly took the tongue in- 
stead of the hand, and so, instead of going through the pres- 
ent tedious process of training and development, from rapping 
to writing, and from writing to speaking, they saved time, and 
made speaking Mediums at once. The specimens of spirit- 
writing which I have found seem to have been a sort of achei- 
ropoietic productions, or perhaps they were written by the 
"condensed'- hand of the airy and tenuous spirit-vehicle, or 
ekJwXov, which spirits, anciently, as well as now, made use of 
for locomotion and other purposes. Even this kind of writing 
-seems not to have been common in the former period, and it is, 
so far as I know, in the present, among the rarest of spirit- 
manifestatioms. In regard to the "aqure fatidicas," as they 
were called, of which the Castalian fountain at Delphi was 
quite the most famous, from the drinking of which_the Pythia 
obtained in part her clairvoyant powers, and perhaps Apollo 
himself, to whom the fountain was sacred, and who, it seems, 
was in the habit of bathing his head in it, probably when he 
wished to excite the vaticinating mood, or he might have used 
it to cool his brain as Byron did, — and which waters were 
found also in many other places ; the most probable explana- 
tion of their peculiar quality, and one strictly analogical, 
reasoning from the present to the past, is, to suppose that the 




66 

spirit -who spoke through the drinking Medium, or rather, 
that the "genius loci," if he were, or were not, the communi- 
cating spirit, magnetised the water on every occasion of its 
use for the purpose of divination, or, the latter personage may- 
have indulged a personal pride in keeping it at all times 
magnetised, for the use, whether of men, or of gods. In the 
same way we may perhaps best explain the instances of water- 
divination in the preceding chapter, that is, by supposing the 
water to have been magnetized by some spirit, or somebody 
else. The following is the promised quotation. " It is sup- 
posed by those who have examined the subject, that, the water 
in this place (Daphne, in Syria,) comes from the Castalian 
fountain, which confers the faculty of divination ; having the 
same name, and the same qualities, as that at Delphi. They 
boast that Hadrian, while yet a private man, received inti- 
mations here concerning the empire. For, they say, that 
having dipt a leaf of laurel in the spring, he found, on taking 
it out, a prediction of the future plainly written thereon." — 
(Sozomen Lib. v.) _ 

That this was no mere boast of those concerned for the 
credit of the spring is proved by the fact related by several 
other historians, that, on coming to the empire,. Hadrian 
walled in, and shut up, this spring, lest it should teach others 
how to become emperors ; and that it remained closed until 
Julian's time. Perhaps other emperors as well as Hadrian 
were afraid of it. This spring was perhaps the only one, 
among the divining waters, which had the faculty of express- 
ing itself in writing ; but the same kind of spirit-writing was 
often found inscribed upon rocks and walls, (Nicephorus Gre- 
goras Hist. Lib. v.) the spirits being able in those days to 
communicate without a Medium, as they are beginning to do 
in these. 

But we must consider a few more instances of the curious, 
and marvelous, not to say miraculous, effects of the ancient 
divining waters. And would it not be well that our own 
springs should be carefully examined, with a view to ascer- 



67 

tain whether they do not, some of them, possess analogous 
powers ? Or if not. perhaps some benevolent spirits may 
consent to take charge, and preside, each over his own foun- 
tain, and become the genius loci, and impart to the waters 
the same powers as did their apocatastatic brethren. We 
have, in modern times, plenty of healing waters for diseases 
of the body, many of them too, presided over by spirits, or, 
at least, they were so not long since, why may we not have, 
for the benefit of the soul ? a series of good theological 
waters, judiciously and conveniently located!! — what could 
tend more to a healthful and true ''progress. " This too, will 
be evolved, as sure as curs is apocatastatic of the period 
we have supposed. Our business, however, at present, is with 
the ancient fountains. 

" It is well known that the Oracle at Colophon gives res- 
ponses by means of water. For there is a fountain in a sub- 
terranean cavern from which the prophet drinks. Then, 
having, on the prescribed nights, performed the accustomed 
ceremmies, he utters responses, having become invisible to 
the spectators present ! (oux st' opw/xsvoy roic; napowji 6eup6i$) — 
Hence it is is manifest that this water confers a divining pow- 
er." (tainblichus de Mysteriis.) 

This fountain at Colophon must have been a very wonderful 
fountain, more so if possible than that which had the power 
to write on laurel leaves. It not only magnetized the prophet 
who drank of it, so as to make him clairvoyant, but it enabled 
him to magnetise the eyes of all the persons present at his 
sittings — for such, I take it, must be the explanation of the 
fact of his becoming invisible to them. This is a power not 
yet, so far as I know, attained by any modern Medium. The 
spirits often magnetise the eyes of the Medium so as to ren- 
der the spectators invisible to him, and the biologists take 
away the power of vision from the eyes of those whom they 
can fascinate, but to fascinate a whole audience is, I believe 
hitherto beyond the magnetic battery of even the Rev. Le Roy 



Sunderland. That same Colophonian water must have been 
equal to the ring of Gyges, and if the fountain is not dry, its 
re-discovery would be worth more to the finder than all the 
gold of California. However, let me not tempt any man of 
Connecticut, or of New-Hampshire, to go in quest of it, since 
it might, after all, prove a losing speculation ; for its powers 
and properties are not, probably, inherent in the water itself, 
— it might not therefore bear transportation, — but are con- 
fered by the resident and presiding spirit at his pleasure. 
Such things are all "the work of the spirits." This is evi- 
dent from the following remarkable quotation : — 

" The prophetess in Branchidse, whether she hold in her 
hand a wand anciently the gift of some god, and becomes 
filled with a divine light ; whether, sitting upon an axle, she 
foretells future events ; whether, dipping her feet or the hem 
of her garment (xpaaVs5ov) in water ; or whether, enveloped in 
the vapor of water, she receives the divine influence ; — by all 
these methods prepared, she receives the god from witliout. 
This is also apparent from the number of sacrifices, from the 
whole of the prescribed ritual, and whatever else is done be- 
fore the access of the oracular inspiration, the baths of the 
prophetess, her fasting three whole days, her remaining in 
the adytum, her becoming already encircled with light, and 
rejoicing for some time; — fjr all these things demonstrate 
that the god is invoked to approach, that he comes from 
without, that the prophetess is inspired in a wonderful manner 
before she comes to her accustomed place ; (before she opens 
the sitting) and it is made manifest, that, in the spirit whicb 
rises from the fountain, (besides the natural quality of the 
water) there is another superior (rpsifi-orspov) god, who is sepa- 
rate from the place, and who is the cause ot the place, and 
the country, and of the Avhole divination." (Idem Ibidem.) 
Here is a most unhesitating believer in the spirits ; a man 
too who beyond all others made it the business of his life to 
investigate the mysteries of spirit-intercourse ; and to observe 



69 

and mark in a scientific manner, — beyond all modern compe- 
tition, (unless the Judge may approach him) — the attendant 
phenomena, whether physiological, psychical, or physical. 
Such investigators in the present period are also apt to be- 
come confirmed believers. 

The reader will please to notice also in passing, the beauti- 
ful specimen of odic light exhibited by this Medium, the 
grand display of that sort of lurid lights being reserved for 
the chapter on physical manifestations. — These waters, then, 
were not the cause of the strange manifestations which ac- 
companied the due ritual use of them, but only an occasion, 
or, means, without which the spirit could not, or did not 
choose to, produce them. It would be unphilosophical how- 
ever, irreligious rather, to suppose their employment to be 
wholly arbitrary. Perhaps their use was symbolical ; their 
transparency imparting, by some sympathetic action, the 
same quality to the otherwise turbid and opake future, and 
their purity suggesting truth in the communications, of which 
the light which invested the Medium was, as it were, the 
shadow and assurance. 

But we must return for a moment to the fountain at Colo- 
phon, which had other note-worthy properties, besides the 
power of rendering people invisible. " There is not a woman 
here as at Delphi, but a priest is elected from certain families, 
and mostly from Miletus, who is informed only of the name 
and number of those who come to consult the Oracle. He 
then retires into the cavern, and drinking of the secret foun- 
tain, — though ignorant generally (plerumque) of letters and 
poetry, — he delivers responses, in verse, to whatever mental 
questions any one has in his mind, (super rebus quas quis 
mente concepit.) — (Tacitus, Annal. Lib. ii.) Here is what 
we may call, in modern phrase, ' : a well developed Medium ;' r 
the power of answering mental questions being a test and 
proof of it, this being, as F understand, one of the highest 



70 

functions of the office. Altogether, a sitting of this Medium 
must have been a very spirited affair, the medium himself 
being changed into a spirit, or, however, there was nothing 
left for the senses but his voice, vox and preterea nihil ; and 
then, spirit-like, to read ones very thoughts ! ! I know not 
whether modern developments have yet reached so wholly 
spirital a form of exhibition ! This faculty of clairvoyance 
in relation to the thoughts of others, however, was not pecu- 
liar to this Medium, the Pythia expressly laid claim to it, — "I 
know what the dumb would say, I hear the voice of him who 
speaks not," — and often manifested it. It was frequently 
implied also in the manifestations of other ancient medi- 
ums. 

There was another form in which the ancient clairvoyance 
sometimes expressed itself, not without imitation, it is said, 
in the present period. The following is an example of it. 

" Then was performed a great miracle. For Mus, as is 
related by the Thebans, having visited various oracles, came 
to the temple of Apollo Ptoi. There followed him three men 
publicly selected by the Thebans, for the purpose of recording 
the responses which might be given. But, on arriving at 
the temple, they were astonished to hear the priestess an- 
swer in some foreign language, instead of speaking Greek, 
so that they had nothing to do. Whereupon Mus, taking 
from them their tablets, wrote down the responses of the 
Oracle — it was said in the Carian tongue, — and having made 
the record he departed &c." (Herodotus, Urania.) 

The sages of India also, as appears from the Life of Apol- 
lonius, seem to have possessed this power of speaking the 
language of those whom they addressed. It was also one 
of the accomplishments of Apollonius himself. (Vita Apol- 
lon. Lib. i. c. 19) Was the rapport magnetique existing be- 
tween the person speaking and the person spoken to ? was it 
the (ki.u-wv, or guardian angel, of the speaker who happened 
to be a linguist ? or is the opinion of Apollonius the true 



71 

one, who explained such facts in Lis own case, and especially 
all instances of clairvoyance by water, like those we have 
been considering, as the effect of the Pythagorean diet — 
that is, of water drinking, and n jn-carniverous food ; beans 
also being excluded. (Vita Apollon. Lib. ii. c. 37) He was, 
however, something of a spiritist, perhaps as much so as 
Iamblichus, and intimates that by such means the god is in- 
duced to "enter from without." 

Besides the developed Mediums through whom the spirits 
could communicate with a third person, there we're also in 
ancient times what are now called impressible Mediums, who 
received the divine influx into their own consciousness, or 
semi-consciousness, but it was not fully transmitted for the 
benefit of others. These, as might be expected, are to be 
found mostly among the later, or the new, mystical, Platonists. 
" For the end and scope with him consisted in approximating, 
and being united to, the god who is above all things. But he 
four times obtained this end while I was with him, and this by 
an ineffable energy and not in capacity. ****** by em- 
ploying for this purpose the paths narrated by Plato in the 
Banquet, the supreme divinity appeared to him, who has 
neither any form nor idea, but is established above intellect 
and every intelligible ; to whom also I, Porphyry, say that I 
once approached, and was united, when I was sixty-eight years 
of age." (Porphyr. Vita Plotin.) 

The mesmeric insensibility was also one of the ancient 
phenomena ; though I am not aware that it was, at that time, 
ever induced for the purpose of avoiding the pain of surgical 
operations. Sufficient evidence that ancient nerves were not 
different from the present, has perhaps been given already 
in the extract from Iamblichus, and parallel facts are com- 
mon everywhere among those "who energize enthusiasti- 
cally." I will however, make one quotation. 

" Under Mount Soracte is the town of Feronia, which is 
also the name of the goddess of the place, who is held in 



72 

great honor there. There is also a grove of Feronia, in 
which are performed sacred rites of a very wonderful 
kind. For those possessed by this Daemon (oi y.aTsy^ixsvoi vno 
<rr)s <5ca;j.ovoc: twut^c) walk with naked feet over burning coals, 
and hot ashes, without suffering any injurious effects from 
the fire." (Strabo. Lib. v.) 



CHAPTER VII. 

Evocantes animas dsemonum, eas indiderunt imaginibus Sanctis divinisque 
mysteriis, par quas idola et bene faciendi et male vires habere potuissent. — 
Hermes Trismegistus, in Asclepian Dialogue. 

Evoking the souls of daemons, they caused them to enter into images by 
means of sacred and mysterious rites, and through the presence of these spirits 
the Idols were enabled to exhibit manifestations both good and evil. 

<pav-rcc£si 5s irdXkaxic;, (&a yvr\rsia.s) xai irupog ovpaviou evSo&sig, xa« 
oiajxsKSiwtfi sirt rourwv ayaAixara, ifvpi 6s aurojjia-rw ~kaixira8s$ avanrovrai. 

Psellus, de Dsemonibus. 

Often too, celestial fire is made to appear through magic, and then statues 
laugh, and lamps are spontaneously enkindled. 

***** void f light 
Save what the glimmering of these livid flames 
Casts pale and dreadful. Paradise Lost, L. i. 



The ancients were much more scientific than we in their 
methods of spirit-intercourse. They had examined the sub- 
ject much more profoundly. Their theoretical views were 
more consistent, and mature, and relied upon with more confi- 
dence than ours. Minds of the highest order were devoted to 
the investigation of the subject. And then, what is very 
essential to success, both in faith and practice, they went 
about it much more religiously than we. It was a sacred 
theurgy practiced by consecrated and holy men as a part of 
religion. And even the unlicensed, and outsiders, when they 
presumed to call spirits from the vasty deep ; or, through the 
10 



74 

eyes, or top of the head of some enchanted boy, or water-mag- 
netised woman, dared to peep into the otherwise invisible 
world, they felt as if they were sacrilegiously tresspassing on 
hallowed ground, and quieted their consciences, and at the 
same time honored and placated the spirits, by the due per- 
formance of sacred rites. Sometimes, however, the spirits, 
instead of being solicited, were commanded to speak, and 
then, especially if the purpose of the questioner were unlaw- 
ful, the rites were impious, with dire chanted imprecations, 
choric dances, and accursed spells, not even excepting human 
sacrifices, or the utterance of words or names of such mystic 
and mighty power as to compel the gods themselves. Yet 
even these were reckoned religious ceremonies. The an- 
cients, "religiosissimi homines," if they had wished a table 
to tip them answers to questions, mental or vocal, instead of 
laying their hands upon it, would first have dedicated it to 
the numen, or spirit, from whom they expected the response, 
and consecrated it with sacrifice, and incense, and chaplet, 
and unction, and libation, and lighted tapers, and then with 
dance, and chanted invocation, have invited the spirit to enter. 
But the ancients did not use tables, those profane inmates of 
the kitchen, for any such hallowed purpose. Statues, ima- 
ges, simulacra, wrought with the utmost skill, and those "not 
of every wood," Were reckoned more appropriate for such 
purposes. And even such a simulacrum was only a dead in- 
animate block, until, with all clue and solemn rites, the spirit, 
whose residence it was to become, and Avho was to act and 
answer in and by it, had been successfully invoked, instated, 
and inthroned within it. Having thus prepared "a piece of 
wood," as that old puritan, Isaiah, sneeringly calls it, they had 
something that could tip, and nod, and march, and float thro' 
the air, and speak besides, if occasion required. Sometimes, 
however, they made use of other objects for purposes of divi- 
nation and consulting the spirits, as the tripod of the Pythia, 
for instance, and then such objects had to be consecrated in 
due form. 



75 

The following example of the method of constructing, con- 
secrating, and using, what may be called a divining machine, 
is quite a curiosity in itself, and interesting from its similarity 
in several particulars, to some of the present methods. I 
would commend it to the favorable notice and consideration of 
modern spirits, especially of those beginners who are obliged 
to spell out their responses. It is really a scientific and very 
elegant method of using the alphabet for that purpose, and 
much more convenient, than going, as it were, fishing among 
the whole twenty-four letters in search of each one as it is 
needed, alter the present clumsy fashion. It was quite an 
artistic, and gentleman-like, dactylomancy, altogether superior 
to any use of the ring in our time, as well as to our pinaco- 
mancy, or the typtomancy, which makes a similar use of the 
alphabet. The occasion of its employment in the instance 
which brought it under the notice of history was as follows. 
Certain political gentlemen, in the time of the Emperor Va- 
lens, being incautiously curious to know who was to be the 
next emperor, made inquiry of the spirits. The Roman po- 
lice, however, who managed to be informed of many things 
without the aid of the spirits, were of opinion that they were 
asking improper questions. Whereupon the inquisitive gen- 
tlemen suddenly found themselves arraigned for high treason. 
On their trial, one of the operators, described to the judges 
the machine, which had been brought into court, and their 
way of consulting the spirits by it, as follows : 

"This ill-omened little table, which you see before you, 
most noble judges, we constructed of laurel twigs, with un- 
lucky auspices, so as to resemble in form the Delphic tripod ; 
and having consecrated it with mystic, chanted, imprecations, 
and with much, and long continued, dancing in a ring round 
about it, at length we got it in operation. The method of 
working it, whenever it was consulted concerning hidden 
things, was on this wise. It Avas placed in the midst of an 
apartment, which was made pure by Arabian odors ; a circu- 
lar plate composed of different metals being simply laid upon 



76 

it, upon the extreme margin of whose circumference were 
skilfully engraved the scriptile forms of the twenty-four let- 
ters of the alphabet, separated from each other by accurately 
measured spaces. Over this, robed in linen vestments, having 
on his feet sandals of the same material, the torulus wound 
about his head, and holding in his hand the boughs of a tree 
of good omen, — the spirit from whom the prescient response 
was expected having been propitiated by appropriate chants, 
— stood one skilled in ritual science ; holding suspended a 
small ring composed of finest Carpathian thread, and wrought 
with mystic rites, which, falling at regular intervals upon 
single letters, composed heroic verses conformable to the 
questions asked, and complete in mode and measure, like those 
which proceed from the Pythia, or from the Oracle at B'ran- 
chidas." — (Ammianus, L. xxix, 29.) 

Now, any spirit who can compress his vehicle so as to pro- 
duce any physical manifestation whatever, could, one would 
suppose, cause such a ring, suspended from the ceiling of the 
room, to vibrate in the required direction, as the spirit did in 
this case ; and certainly, with much more ease than they can 
tip tables, or even rap upon them. What say you my "trick- 
sy spirits" to such an experiment, with the ring ? And here 
I desire the Commissioner of Patents to take notice that all 
modern "Celestial Telegraphs," "Psychographs," and such 
like recent contrivances, are mere apocatastatic copies, and 
not patentable at all, as I understand the law, — I therefore 
enter my "caveat," not that I wish to apply for a patent, but, 
"suum cuique" let justice be done ; anciently, as now, "some 
things could be done as well as others." 

But it is time to proceed to the ancient manifestations by 
means of consecrated effigies, or simulacra, 

" The image of the god (Jupiter Amnion] is composed of 
emeralds and other precious stones, and gives oracles in a way 
quite peculiar. It is borne about in a golden ship by eighty 
priests ; who, bearing it upon their shoulders, go whitherso- 
ever the god (image) by nodding his head, directs them." — 



77 

(Diodor. Sicul. Lib. 17) This is not much, even though Jupi- 
ter did it. About equivalent to tipping a light-stand, or mo- 
ving some other small furniture. 

" From Byblos I ascended Libanus a days journey, having 
heard that there was an ancient temple of Venus there. * * * 
* * * * In it are many precious, and many wonderful, things m 
For the statues sweat, move, and give oracles. And often, 
when the temple is shut, a cry originates within (/3ovj sysvsTo) 
which has been heard by many." — (Lucian. de Syria Dea.) 

These are physical manifestations equal to table-moving, and 
required, probably, spirits of about the same stregth, except 
that the ancient spirits being more at home in their effigies, 
which were a sort of earthly bodies for them, and conformed 
at least in some measure, to them, could act in and by them 
with more convenience and ease, than a modern spirit can get 
into a table and cause it to move. The ability to produce 
sounds and other physical manifestations is also perhaps 
greater, in places consecrated to the spirits, than elsewhere. 
At least, such manifestations in modern spirit-temples, as for 
instance, the thunder in Broadway, the blowing of the trum- 
pet at Athens, Ohio, &c, are thus accounted for. (See Spirit- 
ual Telegraph Nov. 19, 1853.) 

" A little before the misfortune of the Lacedaemonians at 
Leuctra, there was heard the clashing of arms in the temple 
of Hercules, and the statue of Hercules sweat profusely. At 
Thebes, at the same time, in the temple of Hercules, the 
folding doors, which were fastened with bolts, suddenly opened 
of themselves, and the arms which were hung upon the walls 
were found thrown upon the ground. There were other signs 
preceding this calamity. The statue of Lysander at Delphi, 
which the Lacedaemonians had placed there after his great 
naval victory over the Athenians, appeared crowned with 
weeds and bitter herbs, and the two golden stars which had 
been suspended there as offerings in honor of Castor and 
Pollux who had assisted them visibly in that battle, fell, and 



t 



78 

disappeared." (Cicero, de Divinatione i. 94) These spirits 
might almost have done such things as the Judge describes, if 
they had not thought them in bad taste. 

But the ancient spirits were quite up to the modern in phy- 
sical manifestations every way, as we shall see as we pro- 
ceed. 

" There was, at Antioch, an image of Jupiter Amicalis, so 
compounded by magic arts, and consecrated by unhallowed 
rites, that it mocked the eyes of those who looked upon it, 
(ut falleret oculos intuentium, became invisible ?) and seemed 
to exhibit various portentous appearances, and to give res- 
ponses. The truth of this was made manifest to all men, and 
even to the emperors themselves." (Ruffinus) This art of 
making ones self invisible is one I should be happy to learn 
of the spirits, but I am not aware that any Mediums, or tables, 
in our times, are accustomed to render themselves invisible 
to non-magnetized, or non-spirited people. 

" There are many Oracles among the Greeks, many also 
among the Egyptians, many in Africa, and many here in 
Asia. But these give responses neither without priests, nor 
without interpreters. Here, however, Apollo is self-moved, 
and performs the prophetic office wholly by himself; and this 
lie does as follows. When he wishes to "communicate," he 
moves in his place, whereupon the priests forthwith take him 
up. Or if they neglect to take him up, he sweats, and conies 
forth into the middle of the room, (e$ (xstfov e-i xivewtu) when, 
however, others bear him upon their shoulders, he guides 
them, moving from place to place. At length the chief priest 
supplicating him, asks him all sorts of questions. If he does 
not assent he moves backwards ; if he approves he impels 
forward those who bear him, like a charioteer. Thus they 
arrive at responses- They do nothing except by this method. 
Thus he gives predictions concerning the seasons, foretells 
storms, fyc. I will relate another thing also, which he did in 
my presence. The priests were bearing him upon their 
shoulders — he left them below upon the ground, while he 



79 

himself was borne aloft and alone into the air" (Lucian. de 
Syria Dea) 

Here now is a hint which ought not to be lost. A method 
suggested in which the prescient spirits may make themselves 
useful to mankind, and at the same time enrich their friends, 
— a kind of benevolence which we are told they like to in- 
dulge in. Let them make a reliable almanac, or almanacs, 
calculated for various meridians, and with tables of the weather 
for each day, or each week ; surely, the books, if found to 
predict truly, would become right saleable, — a good specula- 
tion for some of the publishers for the spirits, — but, if they 
cannot inform us correctly in regard to the future of this 
world, let us be cautious how we trust them in regard to 
the next. 

Here we have also as good a specimen of what "a piece of 
wood" can do, if it were wood, as any modern table or other 
furniture has exhibited hitherto, not excepting the table that 
went out at the window, or the bell that the Judge saw float 
over the heads of the company, ringing itself as it went. — 
The old spirits could also play on musical instruments as well 
as the new ones. 

" The brazen statue of Memnon which held a harp, at 
certain hours emitted musical sounds, (canebat) Cambyses 
commanded it to be opened, suspecting some hidden mechan- 
ism within. Nevertheless, the statue, which had been conse- 
crated with magic rites, after it had been opened, continued 
its music at the accustomed times." (Scholiastes Juvenalis.) 

Some of the ancient statues could even speak, after a 
fashion. 

' : Concerning this statue, (of Apollo) where it stood, and 
how it spoke, I have said nothing. It is to be understood, 
however, that there was a statue at Delphi which emitted an 
inarticulate voice. For you must know that spirits speak 
with inarticulate voices because they have no organs by which 
they can speak articulately." (Nonnus) 

This author seems not to have been well informed in regard 



80 

to the speaking powers of the spirits, since all ancient his- 
tory declares that their voice was often heard in the air, 
speaking articulately, and repeating the same words in dif- 
ferent places ; and this was called, and universally known, 
by the name of "Vox Divina." In the case of the statue 
above mentioned, the spirit was evidently experimenting with 
the perverse material of which it was made, to see if he could 
make it articulate, as spirits now train the muscles which they 
wish to use for writing or speaking ;' but as the statue had no 
larynx or other organs of voice, as modern mediums have, 
the spirit found the solid stone (for the statue was probably 
of stone,) too inflexible for his purpose. 

But not only the inanimate, wood and stone media — if it is 
proper to call those objects inanimate into which the spirits 
had been invoked and inchanted, — exhibited remarkable phe- 
nomena ; the human, flesh-and-blood Mediums also, when the 
spirits had entered into them, gave wonderful physical mani- 
festations of their presence. 

" The signs, of those that are inspired, are multiform. For 
the inspiration is indicated by the motions of the (whole) body, 
and of certain parts of it, by the perfect rest of the body, by 
harmonious orders and dances, and by elegant sounds, (musi- 
cal ?) or the contraries of these. Either the body, likewise, 
is seen to be elevated, or increased in bulk, or to be be borne 
along sublimely in the air. An equability also of voice 
according to magnitude ; or a great variety of voice after in- 
tervats of silence, may be observed. And again, sometimes 
the sounds have a musical intension and remission." (Iambli- 
chus de Mysteriis.) 

It seems it was not unusual for the Medium to become not 
merely clairvoyant, but meteoric also, so as quite to counter- 
balance and defy the law of gravity, just as happens to 

Mr. and some other modern Mediums. The "increase in 

bulk" also, is curious from its analogy to the blown-up condi- 
tion of the Mediums in the middle ages, and indeed in more 
recent times, whereby they were unable to sink in water ; — 



81 

which fact was observed also in very ancient times, as appears 
from the following quotation. 

" These same people, moreover, (he is speaking of those 
who had the power of fascinating by the eye,) cannot be made 
to sink in water, even where weighed down by their (wet) 
clothes." (Phylarchus apud Plin. Nat. Hist. vii. 2.) 

As we must suppose the spirits to operate by, and accor- 
ding to, the laws of nature, it seems likely that they produce 
these meteoric effects by retaining, or generating, within the 
bodies of those manifesting such marvellous specific levity, 
the requisite quantity of hydrogen, comparatively little when 
they are only to swim, but a good deal, one would think, and 
pretty well compressed, when they are to become lighter than 
atmospheric air. It is also apparent from the "great variety 
of voice," spoken of by Iamblichus, that several spirits could 
possess the medium at the same time, or in succession at the 
same sitting, or at least, such is the present explanation of 
similar changes of voice. The manifestations related by 
Iamblichus will do very well for Egypt, which had anciently 
great reputation in that line. India however, seems to have 
been the birthplace and cradle of the science of spirit-inter- 
course, and spirit-influence and phenomena. Egypt was but 
an imperfect and far-off imitator, as appears from the dispute 
of Apollonius Tyanensis with the Egyptian gymnosophists. 
(Philostrat. Apollon. Tyan. Vita Lib. vi. c. 11) The sages 
of India were, apparently, at all times, clairvoyant, and me- 
teoric, or possessed of the power of rising into the air, when- 
ever they chose to exercise it. The following, from an eye 
witness, beats Egypt entirely, and quite distances the doings 
of all the modern spirits of whom I have any definite knowl- 
edge. 

" I have seen, said Apollonius, the Brahmins of India, 
dwelling on the earth and not on the earth, living fortified 
without fortifications, possessing nothing, and yet everything. 
This he spoke somewhat ^enigmatically ; but Damis (the 
companion of his journey to India) says they sleep upon the 
11 



82 

ground, but that the earth furnishes them with a grassy 
couch of whatever plants they desire, That he himself had 
seen them, elevated two cubits above the surface of the earth, 
walk in the air ! not for the purpose of display, -which was 
quite foreign to the character of the men|; but because what- 
ever they did, elevated, in common with the Sun, above the 
earth, would be more acceptable to that Deity. ******* 
Having bathed, they formed a choral circle, having Iarchas 
for their coryphaeus, and striking the earth with their divi- 
ning rods, it rose 2ip, no otherwise than does the- sea under 
the power of the wind, and caused them to ascend into the 
air. Meanwhile they continued to chant a hymn not unlike 
the paean of Sophocles which is sung at Athens in honor of 
Aesculapius. When they had descended &c." (Philostrat. 
Vita Apollon. Tyanens. Lib. iii. c. 15, 17.) 

Thus much may suffice for this kind of physical manifes- 
tations, although I have passed by many recorded and well 
attested facts still more extraordinary ; but I do not choose 
to bring forward anything which might prove incredible in the 
present stage of our own development. It were a pleasant and 
edifying sight, to behold a modern Circle floating in the air, 
and gyrating around their Medium, while they chant a hymn 
of invocation to their Spirit-President. When we have at- 
tained to this point of imitation, antiquity will set us still 
more difficult lessons. 

The next class of physical manifestations of which I shall 
give some specimens, is that of the luminous appearances now 
called galvanic, magnetic, or odic lights, which sometimes as- 
sume shadowy spectral forms. These seem to have attended 
the ancient spirit-intercourse more commonly, and more re- 
markably, than they have hitherto done in the present itera- 
tion of it. 

We have seen that the prophetess at Branchidse became 
encircled ivith light during her preparations to give responses ; 
— the same thing happened to the Pythia according to Iam- 
blichus. " The prophetess at Delphi, whether, by means of 



the thin and fiery vapor which proceeds from the mouth of the 
cavern, she gives oracles to men ; or whether, from the Ady- 
tum, sitting upon a brazen tripod, or upon a four-footed stool 
sacred to the god, she delivers responses ; in either case, she 
gives herself up wholly to the divine influence, and becomes 
effulgent with rays of light." (atfo rs rou ffupo£ ax-ivos xcvrcwya.- 
%er«t) (Iamblichus de Mysteriis) This manifestation of lu- 
minous appearances must have been quite common anciently, 
if indeed, not an invariable attendant upon the presence of 
true and good spirits ; though not always visible except to 
the Mediums, as perhaps is implied in the following ex- 
tract : — 

" But a species of fire is seen by the recipient, prior to 
the spirit being received, which sometimes becomes manifest 
to all the spectators, either when the numen is descending or 
when he is departing. * * * Those, however, who without 
these blessed spectacles, draw down spirits invisibly, are 
without vision, as if they were in the dark, and know nothing 
of what they do, except some small signs which become visi- 
ble through the body of him who is divinely inspired, (the 
Medium) and certain other things which are manifestly seen, 
but they are ignorant of all the most important particulars 
of divine inspiration, which are concealed from them in the 
invisible." (Iambi, de Myst.) These lights, which were some- 
times a mere halo, and sometimes spectral appearances, or 
apparitions, were a manifestation of the utmost practical im- 
portance, inasmuch as, by them, was to be determined the 
character of the spirit in possession of the Medium. I would 
commend this method to the early and careful consideration 
of the present Circles, since they seem to have great difficulty 
on this point, and are often led into uery amusing, not only, 
but vexatious, and expensive, mistakes, (See Supernal The- 
ology) for want of some such scientific test of the character 
of the spirits. In order, therefore, to relieve the circles of 
such annoying inconveniences in future, and to hasten their 
development in this direction, I will furnish them, from the 



84 

highest authority, with the scientific test they are so much in 
need of, while, at the same time I accomplish my purpose 
of giving a view of this class of phenomena in the ancient 
period. 

" What is the indication of a god, or angel, or archangel, 
or demon, or a certain archon, or a soul being present ? For 
to speak boastingly, and to exhibit a 'phantasm of a certain 
quality, is common to gods and demons, and to all the more 
excellent genera." (Porphyry to the Egyptian Anebo. ) 

The subject must have excited the same questions, and 
questioning, formerly as at present ; however, Iamblichus 
throws great light upon it in his answer to the above query, 
as follows : — 

" The phantasms, or luminous appearances, of the gods are 
uniform, those of demons are various ; * * * those of souls 
are all-various. And the phasmata, indeed, of the gods will 
be seen shining with a salutary light ; those of archangels 
will be terrible ; those of angels more mild ; those of demons 
will be dreadful ; those of heroes are milder than those of 
demons ; those of archons produce astonishment ; and those 
of souls are similar to the heroic phasmata. The phasmata 
of the gods are entirely immutable according to magnitude, 
form, and figure ; those of archangels fall short in sameness ; 
* * * * those of demons are, at different times seen in a dif- 
ferent form, and appear at one time great, and at another 
time small, yet are still recognized to be the phasmata of 
demons ****** and those of souls imitate in no small de- 
gree the demoniacal mutations. * * * * * In the forms of the 
gods which are seen by the eyes the most clear spectacles of 
truth are perceived ; * * * the images of demons are obscure ; 
***** and the images of souls appear to be of a shadowy 
form. 

Again the fire of the gods appears to be entirely stable ; 
that of archangels is tranquil ; but that of angels is stably 
moved. The fire of demons is unstable ; but that of heroes 
is, for the most part, rapidly moved. The fire of those ar- 



clions that are of the first rank is tranquil ; but of those that 
are of the last order is tumultuous ; and the fire of souls is 
transmuted in a multitude of motions." 

The light also, from the different orders of spirits pro- 
duces different physical effects upon the beholders. The 
moral effect of the vision of the different orders is also 
different. All these different appearances, and their effects, 
are to be accurately observed, by those who would not fall in- 
to fatal errors and delusions : " For (hear, hear, and mark,) 
when a certain error happens in the theurgic art, and not 
such autoptic, or self-visible, images are seen as ought to 
occur, but others instead of these, then, inferior powers as- 
sume the form of the more venerable orders, and pretend to 
be those whose forms they assume, and hence, arrogant words 
are uttered by them, and such as exceed the authority they 
possess. * * * much falsehood is derived from the perversion 
which it is necessary the priests should learn from the whole 
order of the phasmata, by the proper observation of which, 
they are able to confute and reject the fictitious pretexts of 
those inferior powers, as by no means pertaining to true and 
good spirits." (Iamblichus de Mysteriis.) 

" That, however, which is the greatest thing, is this, that 
he who draws down a certain divinity, sees a spirit descen- 
ding and entering into some one, recognizes its magnitude 
and quality ; and from this spectacle the greatest truth and 
power of the god, and especially the order he possesses, as 
likewise about what particulars he is adapted to speak the 
truth, Avhat the power is which he imparts, and what he is 
able to effect, become known to the scientific." (Idem Ibi- 
dem.) 

These rules imply that such lights, phantasms, "livid 
flames," or spectral appearances, were the usual, and that 
they ought to be, the constant attendants upon spirit-inter- 
course. They are also sufficiently definite and precise, un- 
doubtedly, to serve instead of spirit-credentials, in the hands 



86 

of the "scientific." But let the inexperienced, and those 
who have more curiosity than caution, beware of spirits who 
refuse to show their light ; — they are, of course, spirits of 
darkness. That these rules are capable of answering the 
purpose for which they were intended, of determining the 
character and quality of a " self-visible spirit," is proved 
and illustrated by the following example of their applica- 
tion : — 

"A certain Egyptian priest, who at that time was at 
Rome, and who became known to Plotinus through one of his 
friends, being desirous to exhibit his wisdom in that illustri- 
ous city, persuaded our philosopher to attend him, for the 
purpose of beholding, through his invocations, his familiar 
demon ; to which request Plotinus readily consented. But 
the invocation was performed in the temple of Isis ; this 
being the only pure place in Rome the Egyptian priest was 
able to find. However, instead of a demon, as was expected, 
a god approached, who was not in the genus of demons. The 
Egyptian, astonished at the unexpected event, exclaimed, 
" Happy Plotinus ! who hast a god for a demon, and whose 
familiar attendant does not rank among the inferior kind." 
(Porphyr. Yita Plotin.) The practiced eye of the priest at 
once detected the rank and quality of the spirit, doubtless by 
the character of the light by which he made himself visible. 

Here, now, is something which begins to look like science. 
Something by which the "real reality" and actual character 
of the spirits and of their communications may be tried and 
tested. Here is a veritable science of spiritism, reliable and 
appropriate. But, without "the glimmering of these livid 
flames," all is darkness ; and without accurate distinction, 
and scientific appreciation of their different shades, motions, 
and effects upon the beholders, both physical and psychical, 
all is still uncertainty. Such being the result, anciently, and 
the successful and satisfactory result — for Iamblichus says 
the true theurgist would laugh at the attempt of evil daemons 
to deceive him — of five hundred years of investigation and 



87 

scientific experiment ; -what rashness in our modern beginners, 
mere sophomores in this abstrusest of all the sciences, viz : 
rj 6*!£))fjMi twv ^,ev5uv xai -^svSovtuv ! — what rashness ! to go on stum- 
bling — as many, nay most, do go on — without the guidance 
of those various and peculiar subternal phosphorescences 
which are the natural lights and safety-lamps of the region 
under exploration. 



CHAPTER VIII. 

For rather er he shulde faile, 
With nicromance he wolde assaile, 
To make his incantation. 

Gower. 

Lamps must be solemnly burned before it ; and then, after some diabolical 
exorcisms necromantically performed, the head shall prove vocal. 

Gregory, Posthum. 



In the examples of divination and other manifestations 
which have been related, little has been said in regard to the 
character or rank of the spirits whose presence was supposed 
to be necessary to the phenomena. Ancient opinions varied 
on this point. By some it was held that they were all spirits 
of dead men (Euhemerus et alii) not even excepting the gods 
themselves, who, by a gradual process going on for ages, like 
unto certain geological changes, came at length to be fully 
transformed, from simple ghosts, unto the nature of deity. 
Indeed the process was going on pretty rapidly before their 
eyes, as in such cases as those of Hercules and Aesculapius, 
and others, not to mention those mushroom gods, the dead 
Roman Emperors, who sprang up in a night, from beasts, into 
divinities, demanding their temples and altars, and giving 
oracles in competition with Apollo himself. 



89 

The prevailing belief, however, was that there were several 
orders of gods, then heroes, demons, and souls. Which last 
were not necessarily spirits of the dead, because all ancient 
souls were pre-existent like Dr. Beecher's, and Spirit-Sweden- 
borg's (Celestial Telegraph.) and a soul communicating thro' 
a medium, or a simulacrum, might be one which had not yet 
" descended into matter," or it might be the spirit of a dead 
man; probably the rules, of which Iamblichus has given us a 
specimen, enabled " the scientific" to distinguish the one kind 
from the other. But however much the gods or unembodied 
souls may have been consulted ; the disembodied souls, or 
spirits of the dead, seem to have been, anciently, as now, the 
favorite source of information, especially in the private Cir- 
cles and Sittings. Perhaps there was some feeling of re- 
straint and hesitation in regard to calling familiarly, in a 
private way and not in their public temples, upon the "Great 
Gods," as, in our time, I believe, the Almighty, and even 
the Angels, are not commonly sent for to answer questions. 

The common belief of the ancients in regard to the rela- 
tion of the living to their dead ancestors was also extremely 
favorable to the prevalence of this kind of spirit-intercourse. 
The subjoined extract gives a very good idea of that belief 
especially among the Romans. We see here that the term de- 
mon may mean also a spirit of the dead. 

" There is also a second class of daemons viz : the souls of 
those who having lived meritoriously have departed from the 
body. Such a soul I find called in the ancient Latin tongue 
Lemur. Of these Lemures, he, who having obtained by lot 
the guardianship of his posterity, presides over the house 
with a quiet and placable superintendence is called the 
household Lar. But those, who, on account of a vicious life, 
having obtained no happy seats, are a sort of vagabonds, or 
are punished by a kind of exile ; and who inflict idle terrors 
upon good men, but more real evils upon the wicked ; — this 
kind is commonly called Larvae. But inasmuch as it is un- 
12 



90 

certain which of these kinds has fallen to the lot of any one, 
whether it may be a Lar or a Larva, he is called the god 
Manes, Manem Deum, — the appellation god being added by 
way of respect. Because, of those belonging to this class, 
those only are considered gods who having passed through life 
with wisdom and justice, and being afterwards supposed by 
men to possess divine powers, are honored with ianes and 
religious ceremonies ; as Amphiaraus in Boeotia ; in Africa 
Mopsus ; in Egypt Osiris ; others in other places, and Aes- 
culapius everywhere. But this whole order of daemons con- 
sists of those who were once in human bodies." (Apuleius de 
Deo Socratis.) 

These last, the spirits of distinguished men, had every- 
where their public fanes and temples, or more humble places 
of resort, where they could be at all times consulted, — as 
Swedenborg and Br. Franklin, and especially our defunct 
M. D's will have in due time ; we already have panpsychia, 
or places consecrated to spirits in general, and each will be 
sure to claim his separate, and appropriate, honors shortly, — 
the whole world was crowded with them, " stipatus est orbis," 
says an ancient writer. But above all others Aesculapius 
was everywhere in demand and repute. This man had been 
a physician in his life-time of considerable business and repu- 
tation ; but his post-mortem practice was one of incredible ex- 
tent, — the poor spirit must have had a weary travel of it even 
for a spirit, to attend at all his offices as often as he was called 
for, — with an ever increasing fame, justly due, — as appeared 
from innumerable tablets suspended in his temples by grate- 
ful patients, describing their disease, giving the prescription, 
and recording the cure, — to remarkable success. A fact, this 
success, not at all incredible, or likely to be doubted, .by any 
one competent to form a correct opinion. This is plain from 
the record of his cases. Most of these invaluable documents 
have perished through time and the envy of the Christians. — 
A few however remain, of which the following are a speci- 
men : — 



91 

" At this very time the Oracle gave response to Caius who 
was blind : ' That he should approach the sacred altar ; 
that he should kneel ; that from the right side he should come 
to the left, and place five fingers upon the altar, and raise his 
hand, and place it upon his eyes.' And his sight was fully 
restored, the people being present and congratulating." 

" To Lucius afflicted with pain in the side and despaired of 
by all men, the god gave response : ' That he should approach 
the altar, and take ashes, and mix with wine and place upon 
his side.' And he recovered, and publicly returned thanks 
to the god, and the people congratulated him." 

" To Julianus vomiting blood and despaired of by all men, 
the god gave response from the oracle ; 'that he should ap- 
proach the altar and take the cones of the pine (or seeds of 
the pine cone, xoxxoug ?po/3iXou) and eat them three days with 
honey.' And he recovered and publicly returned thanks to 
the god." 

" To Valerius Aper, a blind soldier, the oracle gave res- 
ponse ; ' that he should take the blood of a white cock and 
honey, and rub them together, and therewith anoint his eyes 
three days.' And he saw, and came, and gave thanks &c." — 
(Gruteri Thesaurus.) 

No other disembodied response-giving spirit was, perhaps, 
quite as ubiquitous as that of Aesculapius, but their number 
and distribution were such as to be quite sufficient for the 
accommodation of the public, without the trouble of much 
travel, either on the part of the spirits or of the public. 
From the ancient Orpheus ,whose skull gave responses in a 
cave at Lesbos, (Philostratus in Heroicis) down to the last 
dead Emperor, or emperor's mistress, the host of publicly 
vaticinating spirits of the dead, had become prodigiously 
great. 

But, besides all these, there were more private methods 
of " holding conversation with the shades and spirits of the 
deceased," (Plinius Nat. Hist. Lib. xxx. v.) methods which 
were reckoned magical, as we have seen in the case of the 



92 

enchanted boys. By this method spirits could be evoked at 
pleasure, and sent on errands as is the present fashion. 
" Apion said that he could call up spirits and send them to 
ask Homer of what country he was, and who were his parents, 
but that he did not dare to divulge the answer." (Idem xxx. 
vi.) 

These magic arts of divination including necromancy, or 
divination by the dead, were taught among the arcana of the 
temples, and constituted a part of the esoteric lessons of the 
philosophers who had traveled into Egypt and India to learn 
them. (Idem xxx. ii.) In the more ancient times these were 
strictly mystic and esoteric acquirements, but at a later period, 
Rome and the empire were filled with traveling magicians, 
and Egyptians, like unto our own traveling Mediums, who 
could fascinate, enchant, get responses from spirits, make 
visible one's attendant demon, and if their employer could 
furnish means for the requisite rites, would undertake to make 
the gods themselves obedient to his will. 

This they attempted to do for Nero, who, unsatisfied to 
hold divided empire with Jupiter, was resolved to be sole 
monarch and to reign over gods also as well as men. (Plin. 
Nat. Hist. xxx. v.) However, the gods, with the aid of Gal- 
ba, were more than a match for him and his magicians. 

Now in order that we may not be overrun in like manner ; 
that every thing may not be polluted with the slime of these 
" frogs of Egypt ;" that we may avoid the abuses which an- 
ciently compelled the State so often to interfere ; I would 
respectfully suggest to the fathers of the Republic, or, to 
whomsoever it may properly concern, that it may be well to 
have erected, and consecrated to particular spirits, a reason- 
able number of public fanes and temples, at convenient lo- 
calities, and that these places have a monopoly of the spirit- 
business. For Apollo, we cannot do better, I think, than to 
take Swedenborg ; and an excellent Pythia, to begin with, 
would be the lady who enacted Tom Jones, and the unhappy 
parson in Section Thirty-nine, (See Spiritualism.) Eor Aes- 



93 

culapius, let us, by all means, have Halmeman ; because be 
could not only write prescriptions, but bring his medicines 
along with him ; for the politicians, let them if possible, in- 
duce Marc Antony to come down ; for the but details 

■would be injudicious, perhaps dangerous. A Panpsychion 
here and there, where people could take their choice, might 
complete the establishment. 

These ancient magicians or necromancers were not them- 
selves Mediums, but rather what are now callled Mesmerizers 
or Magnetizers, operators who induced the magnetic and 
clairvoyant state, or caused the spirit to speak through the 
enchanted Medium, or to make himself visible, and show his 
colors, and the flag he sailed under. On great occasions, and 
where more mighty powers were to be evoked, the rites were 
not only very formal and mystic, but what were called " im- 
pious and horrid." The sacrifices must be of coal black 
animals, and sometimes even human victims were offered, as 
in the case of the Emperors Nero and Didius (Plin. Nat. Hist. 
& Spartian. Vit. Did. Jul.) 

There were also mysterious words, or names, of which they 
made use, the bare utterance of which was sufficient to fix 
the sun in the heavens. The meaning of these names was; 
altogether unknown to those who used them. They were not 
without meaning however, for listen to Iamblichus : " you 
inquire, he says, (in answer to Porphyry) what efficacy there 
is in names that are not significant. They are not however, 
without signification ; but let them be indeed unknown to uSj 
yet to the gods all of them are significant, though not accor- 
ding to an effable mode." (de Mysteriis) He proceeds to say 
however, that " some of them are known to us, the explica- 
tions of which we receive from the gods." Perhaps some of 
the modern shades also can interpret them, if any one is 
curious on that point ; perhaps also the Judge would like, or 
would do well, to make use of them, instead of the name of 
God, for the purpose of controling " unprogressed" and im- 
pudent spirits. The spirits will probably understand them 



94 

as well as the gods did. The following is a list of some of 
the most potent of them, at the service of the Judge, or any 
other gentleman, whom vulgar spirits may treat disrespect- 
fully : Meu, Threu, Mor, Phor, Teux, Za, Chri, Ge, Ze, 
Azulph, Znon, Threux, Bain, Ch65k. (Alex. Trallian. Lib. ii.) 
Our apocatastatic spirit-period is but just commencing, and 
we have, evidently, much to learn yet. The use, and powers, 
of amulets and talismans are only just beginning to be re- 
a,cknowledged, (Spirit Telegraph) but let the Circles develop 
the mysteries of these monosyllables, and wear them upon 
their seals, frontlets and phylacteries, if they would know 
their power over spirits, and the laws of nature, and under- 
stand the effects of a true talisman in ancient times. Some 
such vocable probably was the motto in the ring of Gyges ; 
nay, some one of these very names, perhaps Threux, or 
Chook, may have been the identical legend on the " Signet 
of Solomon." 

In the ancient period however, just as in our own, a polite 
and well-developed Medium could hold conversation with the 
spirits of the departed at his pleasure, without any spell or 
apparatus of incantations, or other rites, holy or profane, ex- 
cept just to request the pleasure of their company. The 
following is a good specimen of this kind of dialogue, supe- 
rior somewhat, as the reader will notice, in the character of 
the information imparted by the spirit, to its modern imita- 
tions. Scene, the tomb of Achilles on the plain of Troy. 

" I," said he, (loquitur Apollonius Tyanensis) " did not, 
like Ulysses, dig a trench, and evoke the shades with the blood 
of lambs, in order to be admitted to conversation with Achil- 
les ; but making use of a prayer such as the Sage's of India 
think proper for the invocation of heroes, O, Achilles, said I, 
the many assert that you are dead, but I do not coincide 
with that opinion, neither does Pythagoras my Master. If 
we are right show us your shadow. ((Ssigov rj/xiv ro tfsaurou hSog) 
For allow me to say that my eyes might be of much service 
to you, could you use them as loitnesses of your being alive. 



95 

Thereupon there was a slight quaking of the mound, and it 
gave forth the form of a young man of five cubits in height, 
dressed in a Thessalian cloak, hut not exhibiting the haughti- 
ness of demeanor which some ascribe to Achilles. The 
countenance was severe (<5s»vos) yet not in a way to diminish its 
beauty, which seems to me never to have been duly described, 
though Homer said much concerning it. It was of that in- 
describable character that every attempt to pourtray it must 
necessarily come short of the reality. Appearing at first, as 
I mentioned, of five cubits, he immediately enlarged himself 
to more than twice that size, so that when fully expanded he 
was twelve cubits in height, and his beauty had increased in 
the same proportion. His hair spoke for itself that it had 
never been cut, * * * and the first beard of youth was upon 
his chin. " I am happy to meet you," said he, " for I have, 
this long time, needed such a man as you are. The Thess- 
alians have, these many years neglected the sepulcral rites 
due to me. Nevertheless I have been unwilling to take 
offence. For if I should once become angry it would be worse 
for them than for the Greeks who formerly perished in this 
place. Remind them in a friendly way of their neglect, and 
that they ought not to show themselves worse than these 
Trojans, who notwithstanding I killed so many of them, offer 
to me public sacrifices and fruits of the season, and supplicate 
from me reconciliation and forgiveness, which I will never 
grant them. For their perjuries against me will not permit 
that Ilium should be ever restored to its ancient condition, or 
flourish again as many subverted cities have done, but it 
shall forever remain as if it were but yesterday destroyed. 
Lest now I subject the Thessalians to the same punishment, 
be my ambassador to them in regard to the matter I spoke 
of." I will be your ambassador, said I, for the scope of the 
message is that they should take care of themselves. But I 
desire, Achilles, a favor of you. " Ah ! I understand," 
said he, "you wish to ask about Trojan matters, ask therefore 
five questions, whatever you please and the fates permit." 



96 

And first, I inquired if he were buried in the way described 
by the poets. " I am buried," said he, " in a way very agree- 
able to me and to Patroclus, we were very intimate in our 
youth, and now the same golden urn contains us both as if 
we were one. As to the lament which they say the Muses 
and Nereids made for me ; — the Muses have never been at 
this place, but the Nereids do still occasionally come here." 
I then inquired if Polyxena were sacrificed to him. He said 
that story was true, that she was not, however, put to death 
by the Greeks, but that, of her own choice, in honor of their 
mutual love, she fell upon a sword at his tomb. For the third 
question I inquired ; did Helen, 0, Achilles, ever go to Troy ? 
or was that a fiction of Homer ? " For a long time," said he, 
" we were deceived, sending ambassadors to the Trojans, and 
fighting them on her account, while we supposed she was 
there. She, in the mean time, was in Egypt, whither, she 
was abducted by Paris. When we became aware of this we 
fought the remainder of the time for Troy itself, that we 
might not go home in disgrace." I had arrived at the fourth 
question, and said, I was astonished that Greece could have 
produced so many, and such men, as Homer marshals against 
Troy. " The barbarians," replied he, " were not much our 
inferiors, so prolific was the whole earth, at that time, of the 
manly virtues." (Manifestly one of Plato's fertile periods, as 
Mr. Thomas Taylor also thinks, Avhich terminated when our 
own apocatastatic predecessor commenced, at the " mournful 
sound of the trumpet" in Sylla's time.) For the fifth ques- 
tion I said, how happened it that Homer was ignorant of 
Palamedes 1 or if he were not ignorant, why did he not speak 
of him in the poem of which you were the subject. " If Pala- 
medes had not come to Troy," answered Achilles, " Troy never 
would have been burnt. Since, however, a man eminent in 
counsel, and a capital warrior, was slain in order to please 
Ulysses, Homer did not introduce him into the poem that he 
might not be compelled to blame Ulysses." And Achilles 
lamented him as among the greatest and fairest, conspicuous 



97 

in youth and warlike virtues, in temperance superior to all 

. and intimate with the Muses. " Thou, therefore, 0, 

nius, — for the wise arc dependant in some sort upon 

the wise — look after his tomb, and restore the statue of Pala- 

liamefully fallen down. It lies in Aulis, 

over agai . So saying, with a mi 1 iii %i art 

flash of 

A.pollon. Tyanens. L. iv. c. 

Perl' my promise to he brief, facts and phe- 

nomena sufficient for my purpose have now been detailed ; 
and I think it has been made plain that they were, in ancient 
times, and in the heathen world, essentially the same in kind, 
that they took place under essentially the same circumstan- 
ces, and that they were owing to essentially the same causes, 
as in the spirit-epidemic of the present time. Let us make 
out a catalogue of the ancient manifestations, and see whether 
it will not answer as well for the modern phenomena. Under 
the head of physical manifestations we find : 

Lights, both fixed, and moved. 

Halo, encircling the Medium. 

Spectra, luminous, or otherwise visible ; self-visible Spirits. 

Sounds, cries, voices in the air, trumpets, speaking spec- 
tres, musical intonations, musical instruments played. 

Inert bodies moved, and suspended in the air. 

Mediums suspended, and moving in the air. 
The physiological manifestations were : 

Trance, — Magnetic sleep, — Magnetic insensibility. 
The psychological, or physiologico-psychological, were : 

Spirit-speaking, — Spirit-writing. 

Speaking unknown languages. 

Answering mental questions. 

Clairvoyance, both in relation to time, and space. 

Magnetization, by the eye, the hand, by music, and by water. 

Spirits answering questions through Mediums, and 
without Mediums. 

13 



The ancient heathen life, and heathen mind, especially 
about the time of the commencement of Christianity, were? 
so to speak, saturated with these things. They constituted 
a part of their daily faith and practice. They were also 
not unknown, though they had always been discountenanced, 
and forbidden, among the Jews. And notwithstanding 
Christ and the Apostles rebuked and repressed them in 
every form, and inculcated principles which tended to eradi- 
cate them from the heart and life of Christians ; yet, soon 
after the Apostles' time, many found their way into the 
Church who did not leave behind them their heathen belief, 
or practice, in regard to these things. Hence the Church 
suffered and was annoyed, mainly from the lact, that some of 
the injudicious and unapostolic successors of the apostles 
attempted to make use of some of these manifestations for 
the interest of the Church. Finding it easier to let down 
the Church half way to paganism, than to bring paganism up, 
from its wholly sensuous forms of life, even in its religion, to 
walk by faith in that which was invisible, and otherwise 
wholly supersensuous. The Church, therefore, had its proph- 
etesses and other clairvoyant young ladies, a sort of christian 
Pythonesses, until, by sad experience, it learned to drive 
them back to the heathendom which was their proper home. 
Alas ! from that time to the present, the Church has suf- 
fered more than from all other causes together, from that 
most easy of all errors to fall into, and the most difficult to be 
extricated, or to extricate ones self, from ; — the error of mis- 
taking the merely physiological for the truly spiritual. But 
I am anticipating what I intend to say, bye and bye, in a 
seperate chapter. 



CHAPTER IX. 

Is there any one, O Melitus, who acknowledging that there are humane 
things, can yet deny that there are any men ? or, confessing that there are 
equine things, can nevertheless deny that there are any horses ? If this cannot 
be, then no man who acknowledges demonial things, can deny demons. 

Cudworth, Intellectual System, p. 264. 

Now if there be no spirit, matter must of necessity move itself. 

H. More, Immortality of the Soul. 



What was, in the ancient period, the explanation given of 
the phenomena we have been considering ? how were they 
accounted for ? In ancient times, just as now, there were three 
opinions on this point. There were those, among both heath- 
ens and christians, who asserted that all was the effect of 
mere craft and fraud. Then there were the physicists, or 
physiologists, who accounted for the facts by supposing cer- 
tain arcane laws of Nature and of the nervous system. Then 
the spiritists, who were as positive and dogmatical at that 
time, as they are at present. And then there was a fourth 
class, as now, who declined to have any decided opinion. Of 
those holding these various mental relations to the phenomena 
the believers in the spirits were by far the most numerous. 
These included the great masses of the people in all coun- 



100 

tries. Indeed, to doubt, in regard to many of these manifes- 
tations, was to be an infidel, in the most op] sense, 
and to deny the religion of one's country. Hence the ] 
hatred against the Epicureans, who, as a sect, held that the 
gods, if there were gods, like G-allio, " cared for none of these 
things ;" and as for the spirits of dead men, there were none, 
and therefore they were not likely to act or to speak with or 
without Mediums. These opinions excited so much odium 
that the Epicureans were often driven from the temples ; for 
the ancient spirits and their friends had the same anti 
towards the incredulous as their modern successors. Yet 
some, even of these, probably believed in the existence and 
influence of evil spirits ; with their great progenitor Demo- 
critus, who seems to have been himself a sort of Medium, or 
experimenter upon others, in a private way. (Plutarch, ut 
supra, && Plin. Nat. Hist. Lih*xxx.) Let us look at some of 
the language of the unbelievers. Hear Cicero, who hoAvever, 
was not an Epicurean. 

" Neither do I reckon that any faith ought to be had in the 
prophets of Mars; or in the revelations of Apollo, (the res- 
ponses of the Pythia,) some of which are the merest fiction, 
some, inconsiderate babble, (how perfectly apocatastatic !) 
never of any authority with a man of even moderate capacity. 
* * * 0, sacred Apollo, Chrysippus filled a whole volume 
with your oracles, partly false,' in my opinion, and partly, by 
accident, true, — as happens in all treatises, for the most part, 
— partly equivocal and obscure, so that the Interpreter needs 
to be interpreted, and the lot itself needs to be referred to the 
lot.', (De Divinatione, lib. ii.) 

In another part of the same treatise, speaking of those 
who accountb i for the inferiority of the. Delphic Oracle in his 
time to its former fame, by supposing that the vapor from the 
cavern had become diminished in quantity, o r deteriorated in 
quality, (probably its varying reputation was owing to the 
fact that sometimes the Pythia happened to be a " well de- 



101 

•s an " imperfectly-developed," Medium,) 

: •• I know not how it is that these superstitious, and 

desire nothing so mnch 

a3 thai ols of. They will rather suppose 

■ have become extinct, which if it had ever been, must 

s, than not believe that which is altogether 

incredible." (Idem Ibidem.) 

Some of the early Christians also were incredulous in re- 
gard to the agency of spirits in causing the phenomena, al- 
most of them retained their former spiritism, but after 
their conversion, believed that the spirits concerned in these 
manifestations, were all evil spirits. The christian unbeliev- 
ers were sometimes severe upon such men as our friend Iam- 
. and other operators. 
" Away with your Egyptian mysteries, and Etruscan ne- 
cromancy, (conversing with the spirits of the dead,) These, 
undoubtedly, are the impious arts, of infidel men (pagans) for 
the purposes of deception, invented for pure unmingled fraud." 
(Clemens Alexandrinus, Stromat. Lib. iii.) 

" I could adduce many things from Aristotle and the Peri- 
patetics subversive of faith in the Pythia and the other ora- 
and show that the Greeks themselves had no confidence 
in them, even in the most famous of them. But if we admit 
that they were not the mere craft and tricks of men ; if we 
i that they were really oracles, it does not necessarily 
follow that any divinity presided over them, but rather, cer- 
tain wicked Daemons, and spirits hostile to the human race." 
(Origen contra Celsum, Lib. vii.) 

Those who believed, or suspected, that the facts were ex- 
plainable without the agency of spirits, and who admitted 
that they were more than mere fraud, did not, however, at- 
> point out very definitely hoiv, or by what laws of 
nature, they were to be explained. So, I believe, those of 
lei opinion at present, throw a very obscure and uncer- 
tain light upon the subject, when they attempt to give us the 



102 

law of it ; just enough to make the darkness visible. They 
speak of abnormal states of the nervous system, and conta- 
gious sympathies, and electricity, and galvanism, magnetism, 
and od, in a very odd way ; for while they assure us that 
these are sufficient to account for the facts, they do not in- 
dicate to us how, by them, any of the facts are to be account- 
ed for. The ancients, I think, conjectured more philosophi- 
cally than we ; except where we, not merely apocatastatically, 
but very plagiaristically, bring forward the identical dogmas 
of the ancients as our own. 

" Concerning the causes of divination, it is dubious whether 
a god, an angel, or a demon, or some other power, is present 
in manifestations. Or does the soul assert and imagine these 
things, or are they, as some think, the passion of the soul, 
excited from small incentives ? Or is a certain mixed form 
of subsistence produced from our soul and divine inspiration 
externally derived" (Porphyry to the Egyptian Anebo.) 

Another, who seems to have investigated the subject pretty 
carefully, after acknowledging that the " manifestations" are 
under the general superintendence of certain " mediate pow- 
ers" (medias potestates) offers at the same time, the following 
conjectural natural explanation of them. 

" I am however, inclined to think, (quin et illud mecum re- 
puto) that the human mind, and especially the ingenuous mind 
of the young, can, by the soothing or evoking power (evoca- 
mento) of song, or by the lulling influence of odors, be 
brought into a state analogous to that of sleep, (soporari) and 
be, as it were, driven into an oblivion of things present ; and 
so, being, for a short time, removed from the remembrance of 
the body, it is restored, and returns, to its natural, that is, 
divine and immortal relations, and thereby becomes prescient 
of the future." (clairvoyant) (Apuleius de Magia Oratio.) — 
This is evoking the spirit out of the Medium instead of invo- 
king a spirit into him ; yet it looks like an explanation of the 
phenomena. 



10-3 

" The human mind draws, and is replenished from the di- 
vine, and since all things are full and saturated with a divine 
sense and intellect, it follows that the human mind from its re- 
lation of kindred (cognatione) with the divine, may be moved 
in sympathy, or unison therewith, (cowwnoveri) Persons in 
the waking state, hoAvever, are busy about the necessities of 
life, and so no longer partake of the divine consciousness, 
impeded by corporeal restraints. But some few there are 
who can evoke themselves out of the body, and are rapt away 
into a knowledge of things divine." (Cicero de Divinatione, 
Lib. i.) 

This is as good, as the all-pervading magnetic aura Avhich is 
capable of becoming a medium of universal knowledge to all 
souls which can get out of the opake and impervious body, in- 
to it. 

" Wherefore those, whose souls, contemning the body, fly 
forth, and make excursions without, doubtless, excited, and 
inflamed, by a certain ardor, behold the things which they 
communicate in the vaticinating state. And such minds 
which do not inhere in the body, are thus excited (to go forth) 
by many things ; as in the case of those who are thus exci- 
ted by a certain sound of voices, and by Phrygian chants." 
(Idem Ibidem.) 

The following, however, is admirably adapted to the expla- 
nation of modern manifestations, since it does not seem to im- 
ply the necessity of going out of the body in order to come 
en rapport with the soul of the world as the medium of com- 
mon or universal consciousness. 

" This being posited and conceded that there is a certain di- 
vine energy which includes within itself the human life, it is 
not difficult to conjecture a way to account for such things (in 
relation to divination, at gury &c) as we do actually see to 
take place. For even for choosing the proper animal for sac- 
rifice, (for instance, so that the omens would correspond to the 
future event,) the directing agency may be a certain sen- 



104 

tieut power (vis quasdani sentiens) which pervades the ivhole 
universe." (Idem Ibidem.) 

Here is a sort of perceptive fluid abundant enough, for 
every body to partake of, and as convenient as od, or as the 
" panthea principle ! !" a kind of universal sensorium, or sea 
of sense, though it does not appear how its undulations are to 
come in contact and mingle, with the thinking fluid of indi- 
viduals, except in the case of the crack-brained. For the 
supposition that this sentient principle is so subtile as to pass 
through all sorts of cranium s would prove too much, — we 
should all be clairvoyant. 

These ancient explanatory theories, however, were brought 
forward with great modesty, and with much more of diffidence 
than dogmatism. Not so the Spiritists, — they spoke with 
undoubting confidence, sure that the evidence for the correct- 
ness of their view of the subject did not fall short of demon- 
stration. With the confidence of truth ; probably their suc- 
cessors will say. But unluckily for that kind of confirmation 
of their opinion, the believers in the theory of fraud and col- 
lusion and self-deception were equally confident. Some of 
the believers however, as at present, spoke doubtingly enough. 

" Whether these things were true, and in what degree, I 
dispute not ; men, indeed, accounted them, and believed in 
them as true ; insomuch that those skilful in divination were 
held in such esteem as even to be thought worthy to reign ; 
— the men namely who make known to us the divine precepts 
and monitions, both while living and after they are dead." — 
(Strabo, Geograph. Lib. xvi.) 

It was the opinion of Pythagoras " that the regions of the 
air are filled with spirits, who are demons and heroes ; that 
from them come all kinds of divination, omens &c ; that all 
kinds of divination are to be held in honor." (Vita Pythag. 
apud Diogin. Laert.) 

" There are collections of excellent arguments of the phi- 
losophers in favor of the reality of divination. Among whom, 



105 

that I may speak of the most ancient, the Colophonian Xeno 
phanes alone, of those who admitted the existence of the gods, 
wholly rejected divination. All the rest, with the exception 
of Epicurus babbling about the nature of the gods, approved 
it, but not by the same methods. For while Socrates and the 
Socratic3, Zeno and his successors, the old Academy and the 
Peripatetics consenting, remained in the faith of the ancient 
philosophers ; the well-known views of Pythagoras, and of 
Democritus, adding great weight to this opinion ; Dicgearchus 
the Peripatetic rejected all other modes of divination, but 
retained that by dreams, and by fury ; — furor, the "trance or 
interior state," which seems to have been very energetic an- 
ciently, hence called rage, and fury. This was the method 
of the Sibyls, who were said to speak " with insane mouth ;'' 
of the Pythia ; of the enchanted ; and of those who under 
the influence of the theurgic art " energize enthusiastically." 

" As to what was said, however, in regard to the deemons 
(<5cu,uoves) forsaking and deserting the Oracles, so that they lie 
idle, like the unused tools of the mechanic ; — there is involved 
here a different and more important question, namely, by what 
powers and methods are these spirits enabled to excite in per- 
sons of both sexes, enthusiasm, prophetic rage, and a knowl- 
edge of the future. For we cannot attribute the silence of 
the Oracles to the departure of the spirits unless we under- 
stand how by their presence they rendered them vocal. 

" Do you think then," rejoined Ammonius, "that the spirits 
are anything else than wandering Souls, " air-clothed? as 
lb aiod says 1 For my part, I am of opinion, that, just as a 
man acting tragedy or comedy differs from himself; so, a Soul 
wearing the dress of this body differs from itself. There is, 
re, nothing incredible in the supposition that (unem- 
bodied) Souls in communication with (embodied) souls can 
impart to them a knowledge of the future, as we make known 
to each other many things by looks gestures &c, without the 
use of the voice." 

14 



106 

" But if," said I, " the souls which are disembodied, or 
which never have been embodied, are daemons, and terrestrial 
guardians of mortal men, as you and Hesiod suppose ; why 
do we deprive souls in the body of that faculty by which dae- 
mons are naturally enabled to foreknow and make known fu- 
ture events ? For it is not likely that souls on leaving the 
body acquire any new properties or endowments which they 
did not possess before, but that they always possessed them, 
though of inferior quality while mixed with the body. As 
the sun does not appear in its splendor when behind the 
clouds, but, though always the same, yet is for us obscured or 
invisible ; so the soul does not then first acquire its power of 
divination when it emerges from the body as from a cloud, but 
this faculty is already in its possession, however darkened and 
rendered imperfect, by being commixed and mingled with a 
mortal nature." (Plutarch. De Oraculorum Defectu.) 

This is a little pro, and a little con., precisely like a modern 
discussion of the same subject. It would seem likely, how- 
ever, on the whole, that the embodied soul may, by certain 
excitations, or evocations, be enabled to resume pretty fully, 
its inherent and natural, though ordinarily latent power of 
prescience. 

But the most positive witness on the other side, and prop- 
erly so, as he testifies of his own experience and observation, 
is our Expert, lamblichus. To give his evidence in full, 
would be to quote the whole treatise concerning the Mysteries 
of the Egyptians. A few extracts however, will be sufficient 
for my purpose. In answer to some doubting queries he 
says : 

" The greatest remedy for all such doubts is this, to know 
the principle of divination, that it neither originates from 
bodies, nor from the passions about bodies, nor from a certain 
nature, and the powers about nature, nor from any human ap- 
paratus, or the habits pertaining to it. But neither does it 
originate from a certain art, externally acquired. For the 
whole authority of it pertains to the gods, (vernacule, spirits) 



107 

and is imparted by them. * * * nor { n short, is it a hit' 
man work, but is divine and supernatural, and is super- 
nally sent to us from the heavensP (De Mysteriis.) 

This is quite satisfactory. It is always refreshing to find 
a man who has an opinion of his own, — so vanburenish is the 
majority of men on important subjects — such positive people, 
however, as in the present instance, are apt to deal more in 
assertions than reasons. 

Here is a good specimen of an ancient Medium in a theo- 
pemptic trance, or in the " interior state." 

" And sometimes, indeed, an invisible and incorporeal 
spirit surrounds the recumbents, so as not to be perceived by 
the sight, but by a certein other co-sensation and intelli- 
gence, (how exact our apocatastatic iterations !) The en- 
trance of this spirit also is accompanied with a noise, (does 
he rap when he comes in, as our spirits do ?) and he diffuses 
himself on all sides without any contact, and effects admirable 
works conducive to the liberation of the passions of the soul 
and body. But sometimes a bright and tranquil light shines 
forth, by which the sight of the eyes is detained, and which 
occasions them to become closed, though they were before 
open. The other senses however, are in a vigilant state, and 
in a certain respect have a co-sensation of the light unfolded 
by the gods, and the recumbents hear what the gods say." — 
(Clairvoyant, and clairaudient.) (Idem Ibidem.) 

" If the presence of the fire of the gods, and a certain in- 
effable species of light (od) externally accede to him who is 
possessed, and if they wholly fill him, have dominion over, 
and circularly comprehend him on all sides, so that he is not 
able to exert any one energy of his own, what sense, or ani- 
madversion, or appropriate projection of intellect, can there 
be in him who receives a divine fire ? What human motion, 
likewise, can then intervene, or what human reception of 
passion or extasy, or of aberration of the phantasy, or of any- 
thing else of the like kind can take place ?" (why, plainly, in 
that case, none) (Idem Ibidem.) 



108 

" But it is necessary to investigate the causes of divine 
mania. And these are the illuminations proceeding from the 
gods, the spirits imparted by them, and the all-perfect domi- 
nation of divinity, which comprehends, indeed, everything in 
us, but exterminates entirely, our own proper consciousness 
and motion. ~ This divine possession, also, emits words which 
are not understood by those that utter them ; for they pro- 
nounce them, as it is said, " with an insane mouth," and are 
wholly subservient, and entirely yield themselves to the ener- 
gy of the predominating god." [Idem Ibidem.] 

Hear also how readily he can silence objectors against what 
they are pleased to think undignified and unworthy manifesta- 
tions, such as " divining from meal," moving about inanimate 
bodies, (scilicet, tables and such-like.) 

" If, also, the power of the gods proceeds in pre-manife sta- 
tion as far as to things inanimate, such as pebble stones, rods, 
pieces of wood, fyc, this very thing is most admirable, * * * 
because it imparts soul to things inanimate, motion to 
things immoveable, and makes all things to partake of rea- 
son, and to be defined by the measures of intellection, tho' 
possessing no portion of reason from themselves. * * * * 
For as the divinity sometimes makes some stupid man to 
speak wisely, (a Medium for instance) through which it be- 
comes manifest to every one, that this not a certain human 5 
but a divine work ; thus, also, he reveals through things de- 
prived of knowledge, (tables, for instance,) conceptions which 
precede all knowledge. And at the same time he declares to 
men that the signs which are exhibited are worthy of belief, 
and that they are superior to nature. Through them, also 
he inserts in us wisdom." (Idem Ibidem.) 

Here now are reasons for, and an explanation of the causes 
of, the " physical manifestations," much more intelligible than 
any non-spiritist, ancient or modern, has given, or in my opin- 
ion, can give. And what matters it how trifling the phenom- 
ena, provided they are " superior to nature," and so manifest 
the power of the deity. Why should not a table speak fool- 



109 

ishly ? the miracle consists in its speaking., and not in what 
it says. Anciently, however, as is plain from the above ex- 
tract, " things deprived of knowledge" spake more wisely than 
at present, more wisely than they are likely to, at present, for 
we have the highest modern authority for saying that "it is 
an unwarrantable thing to look for instruction much superior 
to the mental development of the Medium." (The Present 
Age &. Inner Life, p. 72.) 

Now the mental development of a table, at least, of ordi- 
nary tables, must be somewhat in the incipient stage ; certain 
dining tables, card tables, and council tables, perhaps, may 
speak as well, or even better, than some of those who sit at 
them. But I am interrupting the witness. Speaking of some 
of the most distinguished of the public Mediums, of those 
who gave the oracular responses of the gods, our " Expert" is 
very definite and explicit. 

" But this divine illumination is immediately present, and 
uses the prophetess as an instrument ; she neither being any 
longer mistress of herself, nor capable of attending to what 
she says, nor perceiving where she is. Hence after predic- 
tion she is scarcely able to recover herself." (Idem Ibi- 
dem.] 

Here is a plenary inspiration not ashamed to assert itself ; 
quite unlike our apologetic modern " not much superior to the 
mental development of the Medium," forsooth ! The fact of 
the character of modern inspiration is not, I think, to be de- 
nied ; it rests upon the very highest authority, that of a 
modern Expert ; but then, cui bono ? what is the use of such 
inspiration ? Anciently it was the spirit, and nothing but 
the spirit who spoke, the Medium furnished nothing except 
the vocal organs, hence some instruction worthy of the teach- 
er was reasonably to be expected, for, 

" She possesses the inspiration of the god shining into the 
pure seat of her soul, becomes full of an unrestrained affla- 
tus, and receives the divine presence in a perfect manner, and 
without any impediment." [Idem Ibidem.] 



110 

So also the Pythia was a mere instrument, in the most 
literal and fullest sense. 

" And when, indeed, fire ascending from the mouth of the 
cavern circularly invests her in collected abundance, she be- 
comes filled from it with a divine splendour. But when she 
places herself upon the seat of the god, she becomes co-adap- 
ted to his stable prophetic power ; and from both these pre- 
paratory operations she becomes wholly possessed by the god. 
And then, indeed, he is present with, and illuminates her in a 
separate manner ; and is different from the fire, the vapor 
which ascends with it from the cavern, the proper seat, and in 
short, from all the visible apparatus of the place, whether 
physical or sacred." [Idem Ibidem.] 

He is not only very positive in his direct assertions of the 
agency of spirits in the manifestations, but shows (to his own 
satisfaction) that all other theories are quite insufficient to ac- 
count for them. 



CHAPTER X. 

Poll. Thou hast even now spoke, and that truly, that spacious is the Sea 
of various opinions concerning these Spirits ; for so indeed it is ; but what 
Port thou touchest at, I desire thee it may not seem troublesom to thee to tell 
me. 

Cast. That which thou desirest, I conceive to be this ; I hold that diese 
tumultuous Spirits are mere images of Satan ; which are not to be feared, 
neither is there any credit to be given to their answers. 

A Discourse of the Nature of Spirits. 



Among those who agreed in referring the manifestations to 
the agency of spirits, there was anciently the same difference 
of opinion as at present, in regard to the character of the 
spirits ; there was also the same agreement of opinion as now 
in regard to their character. They all agreed in believing 
that there were evil spirits concerned in the production of 
some of the phenomena ; but they differed on the question 
whether they were all evil ; — some asserting as now, that 
they were all evil spirits, and others holding, as at present, 
that they were part good and part evil. There has been, 
however, since that time, some " progress" in the mental de- 
velopment of this last class in regard to the definition of 
" evil." Anciently an evil spirit was very uncivilly called a 
wicked spirit, but now, such has been the " progress" of civil- 



112 

ization, which " emollit animos nee sinit esse feros," that they 
are politely denominated unfortunate, undeveloped, "unpro- 
gressed," or sometimes, roguish, or mischievous, spirits. But 
anciently there was supposed to be, — except by the Epicu- 
reans " babbling about the nature of the gods" — a difference 
in kind between physical, or physiological, and moral relations 
— (I should have said spiritual relations, but spiritual, that 
word which used to stir one's deepest consciousness, has come 
to fee- an adjective which is used to qualify and define some- 
thing relating to those most unspiritual of all disembodied, or 
unembodied agents who inspire very foolish people with that 
which is "not much superior to their own mental development." 
Let us therefore, as many as continue to believe in the being 
of anything truly spiritual, which is not merely a more' dif- 
fuse and attenuated form of eternal and universal Matter, and 
in truly spiritual relations ; for the sake of preserving for 
our own use, a venerable and sacred word — let us, I say, call 
the disembodied, or transembodied, or less cumbrously em- 
bodied gentlemen and ladies who study French and music in 
the spheres, and appear among us in celestial velvet and blue 
ribbons, (See Supernal Theology) — this is a very parenthetic 
and troublesome sentence — let us, I say, call these supernal 
persons — pneumatoid ? psychoid ? spiritoid ? these would be 
proper and etymologically correct (except that the last is not 
very etymological) as indicating something spirit-like, or part 
spirit and part matter, but euphony will not permit the use of 
them — let us, then, I say, call these persons spirital people, 
and the new development, the spirital development, or spirit- 
ism.) — now, however, our modern Epicureans, Epicurean pro 
tanto, such has been their " progress," have discovered that 
man has no relations different in kind from those of a tree or 
an animal, (Great Harmonia Vol. ii. p. 230) or, as I should 
say, another animal, and of course, no responsibilities differ- 
ent from those of another animal. Both alike are under, and 
responsible to, the laws of Nature which are the involuntary 
attributes of the deity, as the blood circulates without voli- 



113 

tion. (The Present Age & Inner Life, p. 29) Now it is 
plainly inconceivable that a tree, or an animal, though they 
may lie evil or good in a certain sense, should have spiritual 
relations, ami responsibilities, according to the old meaning of 
the word, even so it is impossible that the spirital ] 
whether in the first or any other sphere, where their involun- 
tary god circulates, should have such; hence, with praise- 
worthy consistency, that "jewel," they have all ceased, — the 
most flagitious among them included, — to be wicked, and are 
simply unfortunate, like a tree in a poor soil, or undeveloped, 
like a lean beast for want of provender ; not having come in 
contact with appropriate pabulum ; but having fallen rather 
upon old orthodoxy, and other dry crusts of conservatism, 
which bring leanness ; — hence, as I was saying, among the 
modern evil spirits there are no loicked ones ; that is, accor- 
ding to spirital definition. But I was about to exhibit the 
ancient belief in regard to the character of the spirits. 

■' There are some who suppose that there is a certain obe- 
dient genus of daemons, which is naturally fraudulent, omni- 
form and various, and which assumes the appearance of gods 
and good daemons, and the souls of the deceased ; and that 
through these everything which appears to be either good or 
evil is effected." (Porphyry to the Egyptian Anebo.) 

Truly " there are some who suppose" identically the same 
thing at the present day, in order to account for identically 
the same effects. But the same author asserts that to be true 
which he says some suppose. 

u By the contrary kind of daemons all prestigious effects are 
produced. They constantly cause apparitions and spectral 
appearances, skilful by deceptions which excite amazement to 
impose upon men. It is their very nature to lie ; because 
they wish to be considered gods ; and the presiding power 
among them to be taken for the supreme god." (Porphyr. ap- 
ud Eusebium.) 

It must needs require great discrimination and knowledge 
of spirit character, one would think, to deal safely with such 
15 



114 

spirits as these. That this was, however, the real character 
of many of those in the habit of communicating with men, is 
acknowledged by still higher authority. 

" Evil spirits, after a phantastic and fallacious method, 
simulate the presence of the gods and good demons, and 
therefore command their worshippers to be just, in order 
that they themselves may seem to be good like the gods. 
Since, however, they are by nature evil, they willingly induce 
evil when invoked to do so, and prompt us to evil. These are 
they who in the delivery of Oracles lie and deceive : and ad- 
vise and accomplish base things. Moreover, the nature of 
evil daemons is inconstant, unstable, inconsistent with itself, 
advising now one thing and now another." (lamblichus, de 
abclitis rerum causis.) 

Now some of our own spirits are the exact apocatastatic 
counterpart of these, spiritists themselves being witnesses, 
(See Supernal Theology, & Spiritualism) if they are ?wt rath- 
er identically the same spirits, and by what tests and criteria, 
Gentlemen Spiritists, are you to distinguish these from the 
honest guardian angels who inspire their proteges in a way 
" not much superior to their own mental development ?" How 
do you know that they do not seem to obey your forms of ad- 
juration, only that they may dupe you the more thoroughly ? 
Do you not find that there is no safety, except in availing 
yourselves of the more mature experience of your apocatas- 
tatic predecessors ? Cabbala, mystic, monosyllabic spells, 
amulets, talismans ! — must you not return to these, as indeed 
you are doing ? and then the lamblichian method, which a man 
of more experience perhaps than all of you, found the only 
effectual one ; — indeed Avhy not send for lamblichus himself? 
alas ! how, in that case, to determine his identity ? for spirits 
whose " very nature it is to lie " could not, I take it, be cer- 
tainly relied upon, even if they should swear to it, by a spon- 
taneous oath, as in the case of the identity" of Swedenborg. 
How, then, are you to find your way out of such a labyrinth 
without the Ariadnean thread which you seem not to have 



115 

hold ill'? — -for, hear farther out- well acquainted with the in- 
tricacies of the place. 

"Those who are themselves flagitious, and who leap, 
were, to things of :i divine nature in an illegal and disorderly 
r, these are not able to associate with the gods. Be- 
cause, likewise, they are excluded through certain defilements, 
q association with pure spirits, they become connected 
with evil spirits, and are filled from them with the worst kind 
of inspiration, are rendered depraved and unholy, ***** 
and, in short, become similar to the depraved demons, with 
whom they arc consonant. These, therefore, attract to them- 
selves through alliance depraved spirits &c." (lamblichus de 
Mysteriis.) 

It seems necessary to look Avell after the Mediums too, as 
- the spirits, hence the ancients commonly selected the 
young and innocent for that office. The following curious 
quotation will also suggest another precaution very necessary 
to be remembered, while at the same time it exhibits the 
insinuating character of the ancient evil spirits. 

" But an intellectual perception, above all things, separates 
whatever is contrary to the true purity of the phantastic 
spirit ; for it attenuates this spirit in an occult and ineffable 
manner, and extends it to divinity. And when it becomes 
adapted to this exalted energy, it draws, by a certain affinity 
of nature, a divine spirit, into conjunction with the soul : as 
on the contrary, when it is so contracted and diminished by 
condensation, that it cannot fill the ventricles of the brain, 
which are the seats assigned to it by providence, then, nature 
luring a vacuum, an evil spirit is insinuated in the 
place of one divine. And what will not the soul suffer when 
assiduously pressed by such an execrable evil." (Synesius de 
Somniis.) 

" Keep the head warm and the feet cool," lest the phantas- 
tic spirit be not sufficiently expanded to fill the ventricles of 
tlir brain ! ! The evil spirit, it seems, seeketh empty places ! 
how admirably, and unexpectedly, this enables us to account 



116 

for tlie haunted condition of certain heads and old houses ! I 
am not aware that we have any apocatastatic parallel to this 
theory of possession. If not, it was not, perhaps, of the an- 
cient sidereal semination, but only a dream of the author 
while discoursing on dreams. 

But it is time to exhibit some of the opinions of those who 
held that all the spirits were evil. 

" These impure spirits, chemons, as is shown by the magi- 
cians, philosophers, and Plato, lurk about statues and conse- 
crated images, and by their influence (afriatu) acquire the 
authority as of a present deity ; one while inspiring soothsay- 
ers, at another making their abode in sacred places, sometimes 
animating the fibres of entrails, guiding the flight of birds, 
directing the lot, giving birth to oracles involved in many 
falsehoods ; for they are both deceived, and deceive, since 
they are both ignorant of real truth, and keep back what they 
know, to their own perdition. Thus they gravitate downwards, 
and seduce from the true God towards matter, render life tur- 
bid, and sleep unquiet : gliding secretly into the bodies of 
men, they simulate diseases, terrify the mind, distort the 
limbs, $*c." (Minutius Felix, in Octavio.) 

They could play pantomime, probably, and imitate the man- 
ners and peculiarities, even to the fits, and other diseases, of 
individuals, as the modern spirits are in the habit of doing. 

" So also, they affect to be the authors of the things which 
they announce ; and plainly they are of the evil, but of the 
good, never. They also pick out the purposes of God, some- 
times from the mouths of the prophets, sometimes from the 
common interpretations of them, (lectionibus resonantibus.) 
Hence, also, gathering certain preordinations of events, they 
emulate divinity by stealing divine foreknowledge. But, in 
their oracles with what skill they can mingle equivocations, 
Croesus can tell, or Pyrrhus." (Tertullian. Apologetic, c. 22.) 

I shall be excused for quoting one or two, more modern 
opinions, which, however, seem to have been formed from an 
investigation of the ancient phenomena. 



117 

" You would say that the oracles were to be suspected, from 
the fact, that they were so ambiguous that an oracle was ne- 
cessary in order to understand them. But if the Oracles 
were the impostures of crafty men, it does not thence follow 
that they were not the work of illusive daemons. I attribute 
them partly to both.. Nor, if they were ambiguous, were 
they therefore not demoniacal : because the demons them- 
selves, ignorant of future contingencies, relied upon subtile, 
but most often, fallacious conjecture. "Wherefore the demons 
must needs use obscure and equivocal language, that it might 
be supposed the oracles were not correctly understood, if the 
event did not correspond to the prediction. Priestcraft is not 
a sufficient explanation, because many things were foretold 
beyond the reach of the human mind." (J. G. Vossius de 
Origine & Progressu. Idolatrise.) 

The following, for a Christian, is more like more modern, 
than it is like more ancient opinions than itself. 

" There are some who suppose that certain subordinate 
spirits, partly good, and partly evil, instruments of retribu- 
tion, observant of the things done here, traverse the air and 
earth ; who received from above a knowledge of things fu- 
ture, tvith the command to impart them to men ; sometimes 
in dreams ; by the stars : by the Delphic tripod ; by the en- 
trails of immolated animals ; and sometimes by a voice origi- 
nating in the atmosphere, and then, as it were, diffused, and 
pervading the ears of men, which the ancients called " Divine 
Voice." ***** it will not be found that these things 
were unreal and futile, if one should attentively consider the 
subject." (Nicephor..,Gregor. Ilistor. Lib. v.) 

The author of the above is perhaps a little noncommittal in 
regard to his personal opinion of the character of the spirits. 
But let us return to more ancient sources. The following, 
from some of the " holy Fathers," are sufficiently explicit, 
but as they are somewhat peculiar, I must beg leave to quote 
the original language. These extracts are for the learned 



118 

exclusively ; ungrecian people, therefore, will please to pass 
them by. 

Ig-opsiTui toivuv Trspj 77jg [Tutijac:, o-7T£p Soxzi <ruv ctXXwv jxavrsjcov Xc.ij.'rrpo- 
TSpov -vyyjy.vstV) on rtSpixaQefypevri to r^g KafaXtag g'op.iov tj tod AcroXXwvGg 
ffpo^r'/jS Se^s-ai cn/sufia <5ia twv yLivc.jxsjwv jcoX'»wv ToutfXrjpw^ejo'a airo^dsy- 
ys-ai to. vo,ai^o,aeva sjvccj tfsfivu y.ai 6eia fJLav-ei^uara. opa 075 (Jia toutwv, si ftig 
to tou flrvsufwcTog sxsivou cwadaprov Jcai [3s;3'/)\ov spwpfiGvs-ou* \i/t\ 01a /xavcuv xai 
cupavwv TTopojv, xai toXXw yiivaixsiwv xoXc'&jv xaftepwTSpijv, scsiffiov t?j 4*uj£?j 
Trjg dstftfifyvrfris. aXXa <5ia tou-tuVj a ou<5s de,y.is t;v toj tfuoppovj xai av^pusrw 
jSXszsiv, wKu XsySTai 7} xai wrrsJoui. 

[Origen. contra Celsum, lib. vii.) 

To the same purport speaks he of the " golden mouth ;" 
and both he and Origen evidently express the opinions' of 
others as well as their own. 

Asve-rai 8s *j UvQia yuv*) <ri$ ov<ja } »£-~ixaSyj(j6ai tw rpiftoSi tots tou Atf- 
oXXojvoj: SiaipovGa. ra dxs\t\^ sic)' outco tfvsupia ffov(5pov 5 i:a.Tu)6sv ava£i<5of/.svoVj 
xai Sia vsvstixwv au-r/jg <Jia5uo ( u.svov fxopiwv, "rXr/pouv ttjv y\Ma.;xu. -7jg fjtavjag. 

(Chrysoslom. Horn, xx.) 

I am not aware that the tripod, at least of the Delphic 
construction, has yet come into use among the modern Py- 
thonesses. 

But before dismissing this part of our subject, it may be 
well to ascertain the opinion of those who, anciently, held that 
there were both good and evil spirits, in regard to what kinds 
or classes of manifestations were due to the agency of evil 
spirits. The doctrine of Iamblichus was, evidently, quite 
different from that of the modern Expert, in regard to the 
effect of the mental development of the Medium upon the 
character or quality of the communication. 

" It is necessary, however, to think that the soul which uses 
divination of this kind, not only becomes an auditor of the 
prediction, but also contributes in no small degree from itself 
to the consummation of it, and of what pertains to its opera- 
tions. For this soul is co-excited and co-operates, and at the 
same time foreknows, through a certain necessary sympathy. 



119 

Such a mode, therefore, of divination as this is entirely dif- 
ferent from the divine and true mode, being alone able to 
predict respecting small and diurnal concerns, viz: respect- 
ing such as bein : place I in a divided nature, arc borne along 

about •_ . and which impart motions from the; 

to thin* 'e able to receive them, and produce mnlti- 

form passions in things which arc naturally adapted to be 
ive. Perfect knowledge however, can never be effected 
through passion. * * * ] m t that which is mingled with 
the most irrational and dark nature of a corporeal-formed 
essence is filled with abundant ignorance." (lamblichus de 
Mysteriis.) 

lie thinks also that the manifestations in, or by, those mag- 
netized by music, the enchanted, which correspond almost 
exactly to a large proportion of modern Mediums, except in 
the method by which the " interior state " is induced, — -these 
he thinks are all moonshine. 

" Nor must you compare an ambiguous state, such as that 
which takes place between a sober condition of mind and ex- 
tasy, with sacred visions of the gods, which are defined by 
one energy. But neither must you compare the most mani- 
fest surveys of the gods, with the imaginations artificially 
procured by enchantment. For the latter have neither the 
energy, nor the essence, nor the truth of the things that are 
seen, but extend mere phantasms as far as to appearance 
only." 

" One may justly be astonished at the contrariety of opin- 
ions produced by admitting that the truth of divination is 
with enchanters." 

" Nor must such truth be admitted as that which subsists 
between agents and patients, when they are concordantly 
homologous with each other." (have a common consciousness.) 

The great disagreement of modern spirits on important 
points, and those too, such that they could not be misrepre- 
sented except wilfully, would excite the suspicions of lambli- 
chus. 



120 

" Nevertheless, no one of these is such as the divine species 
of divination ; nor must the one divine and unmingled form 
of it be characterised from the many phantasms which pro- 
ceed from it into generation, (imitations) Nor if there are 
certain other false and deceitful resemblances, which are still 
more remote from reality, is it fit to adduce these in forming a 
judgment of it. But the divine form or species of divination 
is to be apprehended according to one intelligible and immu- 
table truth : and the mutation which subsists differently at 
different times, is to be rejected as unstable and unadopted 
to the gods. 1 ' (Idem Ibidem.) 

Truly, gentlemen Spiritists, there is clanger, I think, that 
your spirit-intercourse will not, after all, prove to be apocat- 
astatical of the true and venerable ancient theurgy ; but only 
of the damnably impious, and heretical ancient counterfeits 
of it, teste Iamblicho ipso, Experto longe omnium auctorita- 
tissimo ; and so be found altogether the work of evil spirits, 
if not of such as it is proper to speak of only in Greek. 



CHAPTER XI. 

The description of paradise, which is promised unto the pious : therein are 
rivers of incorruptible water ; and rivers of milk, the taste whereof changeth 
not ; and rivers of wine, pleasant unto those who drink ; and rivers of clarified 
honey ; and therein shall they have plenty of all kinds of fruits. ***** 
They shall dwell in gardens of delight ; reposing on couches adorned with 
gold and precious stones; and there shall accompany them fair damsels ("nat- 
ural partners'?") having large black eyes; resembling pearls hidden in their 
shells. Mohammed, Koran. CC. xlvii lvi. 

The Judge. I asked mentally, Where is he (Mohammed) now 1 
Spirit-Bacon. Where he is I know not; but perhaps in the beautiful gar- 
dens he has so graphically described. Spiritualsm, Section xi. 



There are several other resemblances between the ancient 
and the present spiritists, and their opinions and doings, 
which I will bring together in a miscellaneous chapter, under 
the head of as a merchant would say — sundries. 

One of the most curious of these is the revival of the an- 
cient " teletae," or service for the dead, — outside of the inclo- 
sure, I mean, by which it has hitherto been limited. The 
ancient pagans believed, — the spirits, doubtless, told them so, 
and the doctrine had been handed down from the " fertile pe- 
riod," — that certain prayers and sacred rites helped the souls 
of the deceased ; of those who died with any stain un- 
16 



122 

cleansed upon them ; — "that there are absolutions and puri- 
fications from sins through sacrifices, y.ai taitiias *]5ovwv, (funereal 
games, sports, wakes ?) some for those who are yet alive, and 
some for the dead ; those, namely which are called teletae, 
which deliver us from the sufferings there" (twv exsi xaxuv, 
penal sufferings in the other world.) (Plato, de Republica 
Lib. ii.) 

" But when one dissolves an injury committed by his father, 
by restoring, for instance, land which he had unjustly taken, 
he then makes himself to be unobnoxious to justice, and 
lightens, and benefits the soul of his father. * * * Hence 
the gods frequently predict to men that they should go to 
such or such places, and that an apology should be made to 
this man who was never known to them, and that he should 
be appeased, in order that thus they may obtain a remedy, 
and be liberated from their difficulties, and that the punish- 
ments inflicted on them by the Euries may cease. Thus, for 
instance, it is related of one who was cutting down an oak, 
and though he was called upon by a Nymph not to cut it 
down, yet persisted in felling it, that he was punished for so 
doing by the avenging Furies, till one who possessed the 
telestic art told him to raise an altar and sacrifice to this 
Nymph, for thus he would be liberated from his calamities." 

The above is from a treatise of the Platonic Hermias, who, 
thus, as Mr. Thomas Taylor observes, " beautifully unfolds 
the meaning of the ancient indignation of the gods, through 
former guilt." Let us commend it, with other suchlike hea- 
thenisms to the next edition of The Conflict of the Ages. 

The souls of the wicked anciently — for there were some 
wicked men anciently. — were punished in various ways, and 
for various purposes, and for various periods. Sometimes by 
penal pains in the other world, and sometimes by being sent 
back into this in a lower form than that in which they had 
sinned, as first in that of a woman, and then, if sin was still 
persisted in, in the form of a beast ; (Plato, Timaeus) a 
method not favorable to " progress " one would think. The 



123 

punishment was in some cases temporary, and sometimes 
eternal, (de Republica Lib. x.) 

The purpose of it soi lie reformntion of the offen- 

der, and sometimes, for the sake of justice— if there is any 

modern consciousness correlative to that idea, — for the 
anciently,— not being a mere involuntary circulating medium 
" as exhibited in the analogue of the blood flowing!' 
the hit . unaided by voluntary mental volition" — 

Is, — at least the good ones, — there will, however imme- 
diately arise a difference of opinion on that point, — the gods, 
anciently, insisted on justice being done ; punishing not only 
the sinners themselves in the other world, but their native 
places, their families, and children, for many generations, un- 
less due restitution were made to the injured, or their heirs 
or assigns ; and due acknowledgement, and confession, and 
other appropriate recognition of the justice of their "ancient 
indignation " were offered to the gods themselves. But, of- 
tentimes, those who had been sent back into this world by 
way of punishment for their sins while in it before, were still 
bound, such was the nature of the offence committed in the 
former life, to make these same amendes honor ables to the 
gods, and they were afflicted by the avenging furies until they 
did it. Now here was a true difficulty, dignus vindice 
nodus, a knot, worthy of somebody who could untie it, for 
they had all been compelled to drink Lethe-water before 
they started on the second voyage of life, — or the third as 
the case might be, — and of course had not the slightest ves- 
tige of remembrance of what they were being punished for, 
did not even know that they were living a second life, and 
therefore could not take a hii t of what the gods desired of 
them. These, then, were plainly, a class of cases for a good 
Medium. Accordingly, nothing was more common than for 
the public oracles, or private professors of the " telestic art," 
who could clairvoyantly see who such unlucky people had 
been, and what they had done in their previous life, — they 
could tell also who they themselves had been, and what they 



124 

had done, as in the case of that every way thoroughly devel- 
oped Medium, Apollonius Tyanensis, (See Vit. Apollon. Ty- 
an .) — nothing was more common, I say, than for these telestic 
Mediums to point out to this class of sinners what crimes 
they had been guilty of, and what expiation the gods required 
further of them, whereupon, the due rites being performed, 
the hauntings and other annoyances ceased, (would this theory 
account well for some modern manifestations ?) (See Plato, 
Proclus, Iamblichus, Hermias, and the Classics passim.) 

Whether these same Mediums also informed the friends of 
souls suffering below and " asking prayers," what was to be 
done for them, and directed in regard to the " teletse," I am 
not yet learned enough certainly to determine, but the ana- 
logical argument in favor of it would be, in this case, nearly 
or quite, equal to " the evidence of eye-witnesses." 

Our apocatastatic parallelism here is very striking, that 
this ancient heathen service for the dead, should be re-evolved 
just now along with so many other fac-similes of the ancient 
spirit-times. It has not, however, come within the compass 
of my reading to find that the ancient spirits were as benevo- 
lently disposed, or rather, disposed to be benevolent on as 
large and liberal a scale as some of their modern successors. 
For instance, that Howard of a spirit who directed the apos- 
tolic circles in New York to pray nightly for the general jail- 
delivery and ascent to upper spheres of Hannibal and all his 
army. (See Supernal Theology.) 

By the way, how wicked, beyond all recent parallel, must 
have been those old Numidian horsemen who so betrampled the 
Romans, — or else their souls must have been sadly neglected, 
— to lie in limbo all this time, while modern sinners " go up " 
in from three to twelve months. 

Some of those too, who , in our time, descend, I beg pardon, 
begin to ascend, with all their sins upon their heads, unhou- 
seled, unannealed, are found to need, or to desire, deliverance 
from the sxs» xaxwv, and solicit prayers, but whether they de- 



125 

mand other due rites to be performed for them, such as resti- 
tution by their heirs, where extortion, and other unjust meth- 
ods of gain -were among their sins, which used to "lighten 
and benefit the souls " of rapacious sinners in the old spirit- 
times, I am not informed. However, the " evils there " have 
become so comparatively light and tolerable that I doubt 
whether any modern heirs would be in haste to remove them 
by such methods ; for the Fiery Phlegethon flows now with 
nothing hotter than warm water just for bathing ; the black 
Cocytus has become limpid ; the bitter Acheron is a " sweet 
stream ;" Tartarus is no longer much " murky ;" and, in 
short, Elysium has spread pretty much all over Hades. 
These, it must be confessed, are apocatastatic resemblances 
with a difference, such however, is sometimes the effect of 
" Progress," although most people are apt to become rather 
worse than better by it. 

It is much insisted on by the authors of, and believers in # 
the New Dispensation, that the consideration and belief that 
we are surrounded by, and in the presence of, spirits ; and 
especially that our guardian angels constantly watch over us, 
and rejoice in our virtue, and grieve at our faults, — the old 
orthodox notion that we are ever in the presence of God, and 
that his eye is always upon us, not having been found of 
much avail, — cannot but have a very happy effect upon the 
manners and conduct of those who accept the doctrine. Such 
a doctrine too, cannot fail to afford, oftentimes, comfort and 
hope to those who need them, and strength and courage to 
the otherwise disheartened, by the suggestion that celestial 
good-will and spirit-aid are ever near us. I need not quote 
living, or spirit-authors, to exhibit this point,— I have prom- 
ised to be brief— see spiritual periodicals, and other spirit- 
ancl spiritual literature, passim. 

But it is interesting to observe the exact, — with the excep- 
tion perhaps of what is said about dragging to judgment, 
which evidently savors a little too much of non-development, 
— and, I may say, beautiful apocatastatic coincidence of all 



126 

this with the ancient views and doctrines upon the same sub- 
ject, 

" From this higher order of daemons, Plato asserts there is 
appointed one to every individual as a witness and guardian 
in the oonduct of life, who, though invisible, is always present 
a spectator not only of all our actions, but of every thought. 
But when life is finished, and we are to return, then he who 
presided over us, lays hold of, and, as it were, drags his 
charge to the judgment, and assists in the conduct of the 
case ; if the soul attempts any falsehood, he contradicts it, if 
it speak truth he confirms it, and sentence is given very much 
according to his testimony. 

Wherefore, all you who accept this divine doctrine of Plato 
as I have interpreted it, so conform your minds tc it in what- 
ever you do or think, as knowing that nothing whatever within 
or without the mind is hid from this watchful guardian, that 
with curious inquisition he comes to a knowledge of every- 
thing, that he sees everything, understands everything, that 
he dwells in your inmost souls, even as your own conscious- 
ness. He, of whom I speak, our especial guardian, peculiar 
governor, ever-present inspector, proper keeper, watchful ob- 
server, indivisible spectator, inseperable witness, disapprover 
of evil, approver of good ; if he is rightly heede i, carefully 
consulted, religiously honored, is, for us, in uncertainty, a 
guide, in doubt, an adviser, in danger, a defender, in want, a 
helper, who is able, by dreams, by omens^ and sometimes per- 
haps, if the occasion require it, by his visible presence, to 
avert evil, to promote the good, to elevate our fortune when 
low, to confirm it when unstable, to enlighten it when dark, 
to guide it when prosperous, to change it when adverse." 
(Apuleius de Deo Socratis.) 

This is, certainly, what one may call an " Elegant Extract," 
or rather, eloquent extract, quite Jeremy Taylorish. I trust 
the spiritals will be grateful to me for it. 



127 

And the gods grant that they may profit by it. and try to 
rise a little above the boarding-school-Miss style when they 
next indite upon the same, or similar subjects. 

The ancients were not all as dogmatic in regard to the 
doctrine of plenary inspiration as Iamblichus. Perhaps how- 
ever, even he would admit that the form of the revelation 
might be somewhat modified by the character of the Medium, 
though not the matter of it. Some of the ancients, however, 
as is evident from the quotation already made from Porphyry, 
supposed the communication to be a sort of mixture or com- 
pound, or combination, derived partly from the spirit and 
partly from the Medium. Such also seems to be the opinion 
of many at the present time. I think, however, that the pre- 
vailing modern opinion is pretty apocatastatic of the following 
(certainly some such opinion is very indispensable in order to 
account for the form of the celestial matter in modern res- 
ponses,) which I judge was the most common ancient opinion 
also, though different from that of Iamblichus perhaps in one 
direction ; and from that of the modern Expert in the other. 

" If the verses of the Pythia are inferior to those of Homer, 
we need not suppose that Apollo is the author of them. He 
merely gives the impulse whereby eaoh (prophetess) is moved 
according to her peculiar disposition. For if the responses 
were to be given by writing instead of speaking, I do not 
think the letters (7p<x/x^a<ra) supposed to be written by the god 
would be found fault with because they lacked the calligraphy 
of royal epistles ; — for neither the voice, the intonation, the 
diction, or the metre, is the god's but the woman's. He only 
causes visions, and supplies light to the soul in relation to the 
future." (Plutarch, de Pyth. Oraculis.) 

This is plausible and convenient, as present similar expla- 
nations are of similar facts, and yet it seems to the uninitia- 
ted difficult to understand why Phoebus Apollo, or Benj. 
Franklin, or any other high celestial dignitary could not, or 
cannot, inspire the words as well as the thoughts, in so far 
at least, that the quality of the communication should not be 



128 

deteriorated by its transmission through the Medium. And 
such, indeed, was the ancient theory in regard to responses 
from all good spirits. The ancients, it is true, held that 
communications from very high spirit-sources must pass thro' 
several Mediums and descend graclatim in order to reach 
" this terrene abode and the last of things." Apollo himself 
"was only one of Jupiter's Mediums. 

rail i" a yap ifuryp 
Zsvg syxa&isi Aofjia Ssifnfuf^a.'ra. 
" These oracular responses hath Jupiter commmunicated to 
Apollo." 

Quas Phoebo pater omnipotens, mihi Phoebus Apollo 
Prasdixit, vobis Fui'iarum ego maxima pando. ( Virgil.) 

" What things the omnipotent father hath foretold to Apol- 
lo, and Phoebus Apollo to me, those I, the Princess of the 
Furies, make known to you." But then anciently the Me- 
dium, whether remote, or proximate, was a mere conduit in 
relation to the matter of the message and did not absorb in 
its passage all the best of it, so that when it arrived at its 
destination there was nothing left " much above the mental 
development of the Medium." The spirit-Medium, however, 
if Medium he were, next preceding the human one, was often 
pretty high in rank and quality. Apollo, for instance, was 
one of the Dii Majores, and he seems not to have had any in- 
termediate attorney between himself and the Pythia, because 
he often spoke in the first person, " I Phoebus Apollo." Even 
Jupiter himself, the father of gods and men, though he de- 
clined to honor any mortal man so far as to speak by his voice, 
yet condescended to nod, or tip, the head of his simulacrum in 
response to men, as he did his real head in reply to the 
gods. 

II, xai xuavs'/jtfiv stt' ocpputft vsucfs Kpoviwv. 
* * * [xsyav ($' sXsXigsv OXufJwrov. 

He spake, and bent his azure brow, 
Olympus trembled at his nod. 



129 

In modern times all these things are arranged somemhat 
differently, so much so indeed, as almost to endanger the apo- 
catastatic parallel, as follows : "It is therefore, an unwarrant- 
able thing to look for perfect wisdom, or for instruction much 
above the mental development of the Medium, because when 
the whole field is carefully examined it will be found that 
persons in this world do not, as they suppose, communicate 
promiscuously with Swedenborg, Washington, and other illus- 
trious minds, but always immediately with their own par- 
ticular and congenial guardian spirit. If the higher spirits 
desire to impart thoughts they do so by attorney. A long 
chain of " mediums " is at times formed between some exalted 
mind in the next sphere and a person on the footstool — but 
the spirit in closest sympathy with the earthly mind, is its 
own congenial protector. For an illustration, and I may add, 
& fulfilment of this law, tbe reader is referred to the prece- 
ding volume, page fifty-seven, where may be found this sen- 
tence : " A high society of angels desire, through the agency 
of another and more inferior society, to communicate in va- 
rious ways to earth's inhabitants." Here you perceive spirit- 
ual media are acknowledged to exist as well as terrestrial 
channels, — the immediate spirit being, in almost every in- 
stance, the guardian of the person communicating. If these 
laws of interpretation be accepted, together with much to be 
hereafter said, the reader will find no difficulty in extricating 
his mind from doubts, arising from contradictions." 

Shade of " the divine Iamblichus ! !" didst thou not appear 
in person to assure this weak and all incautious brother who 
could pen such inconsiderate babble, that such contradictory 
doings are altogether and indubitably the deeds of evil dae- 
mons ? Truly, in another direction he shows himself cautious 
and clever, and has thrown out an anchor to windward against 
the storms of doubt and cavil, which if it had good bottom, 
would enable his ship to ride out the gale in gallant style ; 
meanwhile he has forgotten to look to leeward at the mocking 
Spirits towards which his anchor drags rapidly, and which the 
17 



130 

ancient lighthouses make manifestly visible to all whose eyes 
are turned in that direction, — " will find no difficulty in ex- 
tricating his mind from doubts arising from contradic- 
tions ! ! " forsooth ? Alas ! unhappy soothsayer, " who ut- 
terest things unworthy of Phoebus," thou art plainly in need 
of exorcism, lor, listen to the highest known authority on this 
point : " An evil demon requires that his worshiper should 
be just, because he assumes the appearance of one belonging 
to the divine genus, (how easily you have been taken in by a 
little affected milk-and-water morality,) but he is subservient 
to what is unjust because he is depraved. The same thing 
likewise, that is said of good and evil may be asserted of the 
true and the false. ***** And that indeed, which 
consents and accords with itself, and always subsists with in- 
variable sameness, pertains to more excellent natures ; (is 
true and good) but that which is hostile to itself, which is 
discordant, and never the same, is the peculiarity in the 

MOST EMINENT DEGREE of DEMONIACAL DISSENSION, (false- 
hood of evil demons) about ivhich it is not at all wonderful 
that things of an opposing nature should subsist'" (Iambli- 
chus de Mysteriis.) 

Out of his own mouth he demonstrates himself and his 
compeers to be apocatastatic, much less of the true " mystic 
operators " of the ancient " telestic art " than of the profane 
enchanters and magicians, through whom the Roman politi- 
cians consulted the dead with such annoyance to the State, 
that they were driven forth on pain of death by decree of the 
Senate. (Tacitus, Annal. ii. 32.) 

Another remarkable re-emergence from below the horizon, 
along with the rest of the apocatastatic curiosities, is that of 
the ancient heathen Elysium, in good preservation as any of 
the lately unearthed flying bulls of Nineveh. A gorgeous 
and glorious Paradise, where men shall enjoy freely and fully, 
aesthetic or sensuous pleasures, the same in kind as those 
which most of them can compass only partially and imperfect- 



131 

lv in this world, and, oh, unconscious and admirable consisten- 
cy ! they take their pet dogs and horses along with them. 
i i of saying " to-morrow shall be as this day and much 
more abundant;" their doctrine is that the next world shall 
be precisely like this, only a great deal better of the same 

" The gods shall send you to the Elysian plain, and the ex- 
treme margin of the Earth, where men lead facile, joyous 
No snow is there, or wintry cold, or storms of rain ; 
but < fcean evermore sends music-breathing zephyrs to refresh 
those who dwell there." (Odyss. iv. 5G3.) 

" These happy heroes dwell devoid of care, by the deep- 
eddying Ocean, in the Islands of the blest, where thrice each 
year the bounteous Earth pours forth for them delicious 
fruits." (Hesiod, Op. & Dies.) 

" They came at length to delightful regions, and charming 
verdant places, amid happy groves the seats of the blest. — 
Here the more widely expanded aether robes the plains in 
purple light, they have also their own sun and their own stars. 
Some on the grassy sward exercise their limbs, emulous, in 
various games, or wrestle on the yellow sand. Some per- 
form the choral dance, chanting, while they beat the earth 
with their feet. * * * Here dwell the mighty heroes, 
born in better (•' prolific ') periods, Ilus, Assaracus, and Dar- 
danus founder of Troy. At distance he admired their shadowy 
chariots, their javelins stood fixed in the earth, and every- 
where at will their unharnessed steeds cropt the grassy mead- 
ows. Such pleasure in their arms and chariots, such care 
to feed their shining war-horses, as they had in life, the 
same they feel in their present abode. To the right and left 
he beheld them pic-nicing (vescentes) on the grass, and chan- 
ting in chorus a joyous paean, in the fragrant laurel-wood, 
whence through the forest flows the Eridanus with full stream. 
J I ore are those who fell fighting for their country; Priests, 
who, while life remained, broke not their vow of chastity / 
pious soothsayers, who uttered things worthy of Phoebus • 



132 

those who, by arts invented, rendered their life illustrious, and 
by deserving it attained to fame ; all these, their temples 
bound with show-white chaplets, associate, and dwell together, 
here." (Virgil. Aeneid. vi. 638-665.) 

The geography of the Elysian regions seems not to have 
been very well settled anciently. Some placed them upon 
the far-off margin of the Earth, some beyond the margin in 
the Islands of Ocean, some made them a part of Hades under 
the earth. Some others however, placed them in the milky 
way and ultimately still higher up, for the ancients also had 
their " Progress " from sphere to sphere, of which the present 
is not yet quite apocatastatic but becoming so in various res- 
pects, and especially by the reappearance of the doctrine of 
the pre-existence of the soul and of its descent with sins upon 
its head unto this " terrene abode." (See The Conflict of 
Ages, Spiritualism, Celestial Telegraph, &c.) Anciently the 
pre-existent soul descended from still higher regions into the 
milky way, where, according to Pythagoras, it first began to 
smell matter. " Hence he asserts that the nutriment of milk 
is first offered to infants because their first motion commences 
from the galaxy, when they begin to fall into terrene bodies." 
From thence the soul descended through various spheres to 
Saturn, Mercury, the Moon, &c., and after its trial in the 
body it gradually re-ascended if it were worthy, or if not, af- 
ter repeated disciplines in the body, (unless it proved an in- 
corrigible sinner) to its ancient blissful seats. (Macrobius in 
Somno Scipionis, Synesius, de Somniis, Plato in Timseo, & de 
Repub. x.) 

It seems to have been a pleasant journey " through meadows 
of Asphodel," (" which were probably situated in the Lion " 
says Mr. Thomas Taylor,) and other amenities, both ways ; 
so that it must have been, on the whole, an agreeable method 
of spending one's eternity, that journeying up and down, — 
analogous to that in which genteel people spend their time — 
especially, as, by the aid of Lethe- water, the " views," and 



133 

other " lion?," including the " meadows of Asphodel," " proba- 
bly in the Lion," were of course, always as good as new. 

The whereabouts of the modern, or apocatastatic paradise, 
one would think, ought to be somewhat more " definitely 
determined " than that of the ancient Elysium ; inasmuch as 
the application of magnetism is now made, freely, not only to 
terrestrial, but to celestial navigation also ; nevertheless it is, 
evidently, about as hard to find as it used to be ; however, it 
is undoubtedly in the same place, since it is prscisely the 
same sort of place, that it was anciently. 

The following is pretty precise in its spherography and ce- 
lestial statistics, and is authenticated by the fact that the 
Medium through whom it was communicated was one which 
Swedenborg condescended often to visit, so that it may almost 
be considered as having the sign manual, or at least the sig- 
net of that sixth sphere dignitary attached to it. As the fact 
of his visiting the Medium is important, I shall first give the 
remarkable evidence of it. It seems he had announced his 
intended visit beforehand, as other great people do, and ; 

" On the occasion promised he came with some twenty spir- 
its, all well known to us, and identified beyond a doubt. 
They all assured us of the fact, and voluntarily took an oath, 
declaring, " in the name of Grod," that Emmanuel Swedenborg 
was present." (Supernal Theology, viii.) This, then, may 
serve as a sort of credentials to what follows. 

" The second (sphere) (the Earth being the first,) is above 
the atmosphere, about six miles in height. The third occu- 
pies about forty miles in height. The fourth occupies a still 
wider space, and so of the others, until the outer boundary of 
the sixth and commencement of the seventh, which is distant 
four or five thousand miles." (Idem xi.) " In rising to the 
spheres there are openings through which we rise." (Idem 
vii.) " As soon as I reached the sixth sphere I was conducted 
to my own home and left alone. I sank upon the grass and 
listened to the exquisite singing of the birds. * * * I felt 
as though I was just born into a most beautiful world. I 



134 

went to my bed, which was made of roses, and laid myself 
upon it, and in a dreamy state of happiness fell asleep." 
(Idem, ibidem.) "I dressed myself and went into my garden. 
I saw all kinds of tempting fruit hanging upon the trees. * 
* * I took some of the fruit and eat it. It was the first 
time I had tasted spiritual! food. * * * There was a 
beautiful stream running through my garden. I went to the 
banks of it and there found a golden cup inscribed with my 
name. * * * When I rose to the seventh sphere I had 
but one guide who carried a lamp. * * * We have many 
parties in the spheres. At one of them in the sixth there 
were two or three thousand spirits present. We always 
dance and always have music. * * * I have a teacher in 
French, a teacher in drawing, and teachers in many other 
things. I have taken sketches of earthly scenes since I have 
been in the spheres." (Idem, ibidem.) 

This is tolerably apocatastatic essentially, except that it 
lacks the dignity and good taste of Elysium, and except the 
locality, and except the learning French, which I fancy an old 
Greek could not easily be induced to take into his mouth. 
Pleasant places however, those spheres, for sentimental young 
ladies, with their "natural partners." (See Supernal The- 
ology.) 

But here comes still higher authority, perhaps the hio-hest, 
or next to the highest. Loquitur the spirit of Swedenborg 
himself by the hand of Dr. Dexter. 

" Now when I arrived at the sixth sphere * * * * the 
newness of everything impressed me with delight. The air 
was pure, and the whole heavens were clear and bright be- 
yond all comparison. I saw no difference in the sky except 
in its brightness and purity ; and on looking abroad on the 
earth I could detect no difference in its appearance from our 
earth, except in the heavenly beauty and harmony in the ar- 
rangement of the landscape. * * * The trees, the rocks 
and mountains, the flowers and birds, the gushing torrents and 
the murmuring rivulets, the oceans and rivers, man, woman 



135 

and child all passed before me. * * * We occupy earth — 
tangible, positive earth— as much as your earth ; but the ad- 
vanced state of both spirit and locality renders it unnecessary 
for us to labor much to obtain food for the support of our 
bodies. Then again, the earth brings forth spontaneously 
most of the food required for our bodies. And * * the 

advanced spirits do not require as much food as those who 
are below them." 

In answer to a remark of the Judge in regard to locality 
and the probable difficulty of making an intelligible statement 
on that point, he said : 

" I am glad your mind, Judge, recognises the difficulty of 
understanding locality in this connection. I might say Mars, 
or Jupiter, or Venus, but your mind would tire were I to lead 
it where the spirits of the sixth sphere dwell. I cannot locate 
it. Suffice it to say, far beyond the confines or limits of any 
star or planet of which you have knowledge." (Spiritualism, 
Section xv.) 

This is quite satisfactory, and quite apocatastatic, except 
that Mr. Swedenborg has not yet arrived where dwell the 
ancient heroes, " for whom the bounteous earth thrice in each 
year pours forth delicious fruits," so that they are not obliged 
to work at all. He does not, however, agree with the previous 
witness, quasi accredited by himself, in the matter of locality ; 
which seems to the undeveloped a little difficult to understand 
in regard to a mere geographical fact, and when both have 
been over the ground. If, for instance, of two earthly travel- 
lers, both of whom should assert that they had resided in 
London, one should inform us that it was in the East Indies, 
or beyond any place " of which we had knowledge," while the 
other located it in England or France, we should be apt to 
think that one of them, and possibly the other, had never 
been there. However, see the Present Age and Inner Life, 
page seventy-three ; and yet, could not the spirit suggest or 
describe correctly, and the Medium's hand be a correct aman- 
uensis for the description of one locality as well as another ? 



136 

There is one more important witness on this point, viz., the 
" young Swedenborg," or apocatastatic Iamblichus, unless 
" the Judge " chooses to compete for this latter and higher 
honor — but whether to rank him before, or second to the last 
gentleman on the stand, I am dubious ; for whether is more 
reliable, the utterances of a man who records the contents of 
his day-dreams as they spontaneously run throgh his head at 
something more than average speed, or the expressions of a 
spirit who, finding certain ventricles empty, (See Syuesius, ut 
supra) " insinuates " itself into them, and being expanded by 
the warmth of the place, presses out, or expresses the brain- 
dribble of another man, who, meanwhile, is, himself, by the 
very laws of pathology in a jiassive state, for it is evidently a 
" case of compression " as the doctors say. But let us hear 
the witness. 

"THE SPIRIT LAND !" What do you mean by these 
terms? Something figurative, or something literal? I mean 
a substantial world : a sphere, similar in constitution to this 
world, only, in every conceivable respect, one degree superior 
to the best planet in our solar system. 

What is the external appearance of the Spirit Land ? 

It appears like a beautiful morning ! The surface is diversi- 
fied endlessly, with vallies, rivers, hills, mountains, and innu- 
merable parks. These parks are particularly attractive. 
The ten thousand varieties of flowers lend a peculiar prismatic 
charm to the far-extending territories, and the soft divine 
ether in which the entire world is bathed supasses all concep- 
tion. 

Canst thou form an idea of the magnitude of the second 
sphere ? 

Multiply our earth by twenty-seven million times its pre- 
sent size, and it will give you the exact size of one of the 
countless parks of the second sphere. 

Moid was the Spirit Land formed ? 

What law was it which formed the sparkling girdles of Sat- 
urn ? What becomes of the fine invisible particles of matter 



137 

which emanate from vegetation — from minerals, from all ani- 
mal bodies, and from the entire globe ? This earth alone 
gives off eight hundred millions of tons of invisible emanations 
every year. Where do these atoms go ? The earth perspires 
like the human body. * * * * j^\\ the other planets — 
Mercury, Yenus, the vast group of asteroids, Mars, Jupiter, 
Saturn, the three orbs beyond, together with all their moons 
— give off fine emanations just like the earth. Where do 
these emanations go ? These questions are left you as replies 
to quere as to the formation of the Spirit Land. 
Where is the Spirit Land located ? 

Seest thou that beautiful zone of worlds, at night, called 
the " Milky Way ? " * * * Yon " Milky Way " is com- 
posed of myriads of suns and planets — each system resem- 
bling our sun with its planets. * * * * Our sun, our 
earth, and all the neighboring planets, constitute but one 
group in the circle. On these planets the human spirit 
FIRST begins to be. (Hence children drink milk, as Py- 
thagoras says.) * * * Hence this circle of planets (taken 
altogether) may be termed " the first sphere of human exist- 
ence." But the spirit of man at death passes away to another 
world ; which is termed, very naturally, " the second sphere." 

But where is this sphere located ? 

Look again at those beautiful icings surrounding the planet 
Saturn. * * * The second sphere girdles the first sphere, 
" the milky way," just as the rings girdle the planet Saturn. 
The representation is perfect." (The Present Age and Inner 
Life, pp. 273-6.) 

There is not so much difficulty, after all, " Judge," in " un- 
derstanding (or describing) locality in this connection," when 
once one becomes reasonably clairvoyant., and capable of 
going into the " Inner Life." The young Swedenborg is a 
much better geographer than the old one — such is the effect 
of " progress." But to understand " how the Spirit-Land 
was formed," — truly, " hoc opus, hie labor est," equal to the 
hardest of the twelve which so illustrated the strength of 
18 



138 

Hercules, " ftmv HpaxXsoio ;" this labor, however, how compara- 
tively light ; — to form, actually to form, the Spirit-Land, to 
evolve, and develop, the materials of it ! Dii immortales ! 
what a more than Thomsonian sweating operation it must 
have been for the poor toiling planets thus to provide for the 
souls of their children ! ! — to " perspire like the human body," 
to sweat out, a quantity of " fine invisible particles," or " in- 
sensible perspiration," which, when condensed into solid earth, 
and rocks, and trees, and rivers, and mountains, amounted to 
" exactly " — I beg pardon, there is a datum or two wanting 
here, such as the distance and thickness of the Saturn-like 
ring — but, say, to some ten hundred thousand million times 
the whole quantity of matter constituting the perspiring 
planets ! ! ! truly, " Judge," here is a " difficulty," and I think 
I shall be obliged to confess that the labor of understanding 
is not less than that of doing it. 

However, the parallelism between the ancient Elysium and 
the modern, notwithstanding some minor discrepancies, is, on 
the whole, and essentially, very striking and complete ; that 
is, they are both essentially sensuous. Their relations are to 
the physiological, or at most to the psychical, to the spiritual 
in man not at all. In short they are what all christian men 
have ever, and what all christian consciousness ever will, 
denominate " a fool's paradise." 

It is quite common for some persons, under the New Dis- 
pensation, to be at times impelled, that is moved by an im- 
pulse, in the physical sense, or certainly it comes very near 
to that, and in some cases quite, — they are urged and as it 
were, driven to go in certain directions without any conscious 
purpose, and without knowing in what direction they are to 
go, all of which is curiously coincident with such ancient facts 
as the following : — 

" The effigy of the Heliopolitan god is carried about upon 
a litter, as the images of the gods are borne in procession at 
the Circensian games ; and high priests, with shaven crowns, 
and pure by continued chastity, pass through the greater part 



139 

of the Province ; and are borne along by a divine guidance, 
not by their own volition, whithersoever the god propels those 
who carry him ; as we see at Antium the statues of Fortune 
move forward in order to give responses." (Macrobius Satur- 
nal. L. i. c. 23.) 

The purpose of the god seems to have been, in this case, to 
peddle spiritual communications, a sort of traveling Medium 
for whoever might choose to consult him. In another similar 
instance of impulsion or propulsion, the god is represented as 
a sort of charioteer, (kivjo^swv) guiding and urging those who 
bore him as a driver does his horses. And I have no doubt 
that, if the impressibles or propelables would now bear about 
with them " wrapt in pure linen," a duly consecrated image, 
or effigy, of their propulsive spirit — that, they would find the 
impulse, or propulsion, much stronger. 

The ancients were in the habit also of inquiring after the 
spirits of their dead friends as at present. Thus, when Ame- 
lius inquired of Apollo in regard to the soul of Plotinus, the 
god gave response in a poem of nearly a hundred hexameters 
in his jn-aise, — the philosopher seems to have been a favorite 
of his, — and setting forth that he was with Plato and Pytha- 
goras and holy daemons, where they seem to have been in 
much higher, and more spiritual (not spirital) relations than 
those of any modern spirit ; — but then they were philosophers 
who despised matter, and body, and sense, even in this world. 
I would that the Judge, instead of putting faith in Sweden- 
borg and the Pseudo-Bacon, could send for and consult them 
for a few sittings, — were they not so far up in " the intelligi- 
ble," above the sphere of his sensuous, sight-seeing, apple- 
eating spirits, that they never could find them, — I think he 
would not fall as much below even the half-developed christian 
conscionsness in his record of spirital relations and employ- 
ments, or in his theology, as he does now. 

It was also the fashion anciently, as now, to make use of 
the spirits for very vulgar purposes, and to gratify very low 
or selfish ends. 



140 

" But by those who have devised the means of associating 
with beings more excellent than man, if the investigation of 
this subject is omitted, (viz : the path to felicity) wisdom will 
be professed by them in vain ; as they will only disturb a di- 
vine intellect about the discovery of a fugitive slave, or the 
purchase of land, or about marriage, or merchandize : in this 
case, they will not be conversant either with gods or good 
daemons, but with that dsemon who is called fraudulent ; or, 
if this be not admitted, the whole will be the invention of 
men, and the fiction of a mortal nature." (Porphyry to the 
Egypt. Anebo.) 

The ancient spirits, however, were somewhat more digni- 
fied than the modern in their language and manners,, and 
physical manifestations ; — true, that charioteering, or teaming 
the priests about, was a little earthly, and they were some- 
times pretty noisy, and threw the furniture about some, in 
their own houses, as is the present fashion at their temple in 
Broadway ; but to go into private dwellings, to slap people 
on the face, to creep into the pockets of venerable Judges, 
and knot up their handkerchiefs, to pull out young ladies' 
hair-combs, and play fantastic tricks with their dresses, (See 
Spiritualism, Introduction) — certainly, so far as I know, no 
ancient spirits were in the habit of doing such things. 

Among the evidences, relied upon at present, of the spirit- 
al origin of the manifestations, is the fact that the intelli- 
gence connected with them, asserts itself to be spirital. The 
spirits also accredit each other's doctrines, and however con- 
tradictory they may be, (much more so than those of the an- 
cient spirits) there is no difficulty in getting them attested 
and confirmed. So also the ancient spirits asserted their 
personality, and their knowledge of mens' thoughts, as, " I 
Phoebus," and " I know the thoughts within the dumb con- 
cealed ;" and they also accredited each other, as where Apollo 
by an Oracle (See apud Eusebium,) sanctions the Egyptian, 
and other theurgy and Mysteries ; and, in general, they seem 



141 

to have been much more harmonious and concordant on most 
subjects than at present. 

The parallel between the ancient heathen, and the prsesent 
spirit-intercourse might be extended farther by adducing more 
examples under most of the different heads, or by going more 
into detail in some respects. And, if, instead of relying, as 
we must, for the most part, upon incidental facts and allusions, 
scattered widely through ancient literature, the great number 
of ancient books, spoken of by their contemporaries, as writ- 
ten expressly on this subject, had come down to us, it would 
doubtless be easy to present it in a more full and orderly, if 
not scientific, form. For it is spoken of as a science by the 
ancients themselves, who assert that the knowledge obtained 
by it is certain and reliable in spite of all fraudulent dae- 
mons. However that may be, one thing is sufficiently obvious, 
viz : that the present form of it is quite crude and immature 
in comparison with its fullest ancient development. 

Yet the similarity, indeed the identity of the two in kind, 
in fact, their true apocatastatic relation to each other, has 
been, I trust, demonstrated, and made certain, beyond all 
doubt, cavil, or evasion ; for what, I would inquire, except a 
return in large numbers of the " stars celestial, genitors of 
all events," to the same apocatastatic position, opening in 
some way the celestial avenues, could cause such a sudden 
and tumultuous re-descent of spirits, with the consequent 
repetition of the same phenomena as in ancient times ? — as 
the same thick shower of meteors is repeated annually at the 
same season, that is, at an astral apocatastasis on a smaller 
scale. 



CHAPTER XII. 

It is all one as if they had said ; * * * * * heathenry, paganisme, 
scurrillitie, and divelric itself Is equal with God's word ; or that Sathan is equi- 
pollent with the Lord. Prynne. Histrio-Mastix. 

Gluare, ut optimi medici conclamatis desperatisque corporibus non adhibent 
medentes manus, ne nihil profutura curatio doloribus spatia promulget ; ita eos, 
quorum animse vitiis imbuta sunt, nee curari queunt raedicina sapientise, eos 
mori pra^stat. Apdleius De Habitud. Lib. ii. 

As the best physicians do not. in hopeless cases, attempt a cure, lest they 
only prolong the sufferings of the patient ; even so, those whose minds are 
contaminated with vicious opinions beyond the remedial power of truth, may 
as well be let alone. 



Gentlemen Spiritists, you I mean who willingly believe in, 
extol and promote what you call the " New Dispensation," 
who believe that " the manifestations " are caused by the 
agency of spirits, not only, but, in the main, by that of good 
spirits, insomuch that you are thence enabled to make out a 
reliable description of the abodes and employments of the 
dead, and especially, to derive from their communications a 
true theology and religion, — this latter, far beyond compari- 
son, or parallel, the most important and serious of all subjects, 



143 

a little harmless apocatastatical preluding, a sort of light- 
aired voluntary, as some Church-Organs extemporize snatches 
of old love ditties, or fragments of war songs, before sermon, 
" for why should the Devil have all the good tunes V — I in- 
tended, I say, out of a very serious subject, to make a very 
serious " Tract ;" but my unfortunate — if such is the proper 
term — my unfortunate organization, education, associations, 
and other unpropitious surroundings, — for I was brought up 
among the "sects," and to reverence the Bible — these ele- 
ments of my inner man coming into contact and combination 
with the spirital facts and spirital theories which have turned 
up to my investigation ; the product has been such as quite 
to disperse my natural gravity, and have impelled me — 
should I not rather say compelled me — to write, thus far, 
as I have written. I am not much in the habit of speaking 
with levity of any man's religion, erroneous though I may 
reckon it, yet in this case, I do not see that an apology 
is due, or fitting, even though, on sober second thought, 
I were conscious of impropriety or indecorum, which I am 
not, certainly, an apology cannot without gross incon- 
sistency be demanded, or expected by men who would per- 
suade me that I have no responsibilities different in kind 
from those of a tree or an animal, that in all my relations I 
am, like the tree or the animal, wholly subject to the laws of 
Nature, and therefore must act as I am acted upon ; men in 
whose theory " man is a part of Nature " whose philosophy, 
or theology, never ascends out of nature, never rises above 
the merely physiological, certainly not above the psychical, 
and never reaches at all the truly spiritual sphere of respon- 
sibility, and so gives no place, furnishes no ground, for' an 
action which can justly or legitimately oive an apology, — for 
who would expect an apology from his horse or his dog, or 
his peach trees ? Besides, this tract is not addressed to you, 
— with the exception of the present chapter, which is inten- 
ted to be a serious one — nor written for your benefit, as in- 
deed this chapter is not, although my benevolence would 



144 

prompt me — excuse the egotism — to attempt to do you good, 
had I the slightest hope of being able to accomplish it, in 
regard to the subject under consideration. Yet I beg leave 
with all due respect both to you and to your spirit friends, to 
ask a few questions, and address a few remarks, to you, and 
to them if they choose, which, perchance may benefit some 
others. 

You believe that communications true and valid are often 
made to you by the spirits of the dead, and that they often 
truly foretell future events, that is, thnt you have a veritable 
and reliable necromancy ; (vexgopuvrsiu) you believe that such 
communications as those, for instance, in the body of the late 
work called " Spiritualism ;" were made by the celestially 
instructed, and thereby highly and deeply developed, and far 
progressed spirits of the men from whom they purport to 
come ; also that the communications in the appendix of that 
work said to have been uttered by Webster and Clay through 
borrowed vocal organs, are the genuine productions and pre- 
dictions of the spirits of those men ; also that the spirit of 
the haughty and dignified Calhoun condescended to play 
fantastic tricks under the table, as there recorded. Your be- 
lief, gentlemen, in the true authenticity and genuineness of 
these communications — far more wonderful, incomparably 
more incredible to me than any thing contained in that book 
— has gone far to convince me of the reality of spirit-influ- 
ence, — for among all the facts of psychology with which I 
have become acquainted, judged of by whatever knowledge 
of the laws of mind I have been able to acquire — not alto- 
gether uninvestigating or unmeditative on such subjects — 
this belief of yours is by far — " far as from the centre thrice 
to the utmost pole " — the most extraordinary, the most un- 
accountable, by the vulgar and every-day laws of nature, and 
therefore the most demanding for its explanation the interpo- 
sition of the gods or of some other spirits. However, you 
believe in these, and innumerable — numerous almost as the 
oracles of Apollo — other such-like phenomena, which you 



145 

sometimes call the New Era. the new development, and more 
emphatically the " New Dispensation." I trust however, 
that you are satisfied it is not new in any essential particu- 
lar : indeed, when it suits your purpose you can, and do, claim 
the authority of antiquity for it. Now if your spirit-theory 
rests on evidence which ought to command our credence, and 
your spirit-responses are reliable, much more, the ancient 
pagan spirit-theories and responses, by reason of longer con- 
tinued, and more full evidence of the same kind, ought, in all 
logical minds, in point of proof and reliability, to take prece- 
dence of yours. 

Are } r ou then ready — and how should you not be, even as 
you value that "jewel" consistency? — with Mr. Thomas Tay- 
lor, to go over from Jehovah to Jupiter ? — No, not from Jeho- 
vah, " the Jewish God is the creation of the nether portions of 
the brain," according to the Coryphaeus of your quire ; you 
have " progressed " far beyond Him — but from your great 
central germ, and involuntary circulating Medium of the uni- 
verse, from your " Principle," and '■ identification of spirit with 
matter," are you ready to go over to Jupiter and Minerva, and 
worship the sun and the planets, and other Dii Majores et Mi- 
nores ? Truly, gentlemen, the difference is not great ; it is 
but breaking the " Soul of the world " a little into fragments, 
a " disintegration " obvious, natural and necessary. 

And why should not such magnificent combinations of the 
" Eternal Cause and the Eternal Effect " as are exhibited in 
the Sun, and Saturn, for instance, that " best planet in our 
solar system," be recognized and honored as divine as well as 
the sum total of such combinations 1 So did the ancients, 
only making practical your principles as well as their oavii. 
True, they personified more than you do ; but were those phil 
osophic men, with so much more science and experience in 
spirit-intercourse than you can pretend to, and with a power 
of analytic logic and intense thought which would put to 
shame you and all your spirits — were those men, who con- 
stantly held audible and visible intercourse with these very 
19 



146 

gods, (who probably knew as much about themselves as mod- 
ern spirits) deceived in their deology, divology, or spiritology ? 
And did not spirits of lower rank recognise and acknowledge 
the existence of these divinities, as yours do that of the presi- 
dents of the celestial phalansteries ? If now these were all 
lying spirits, and these ancient believers were all duped by 
them — as you must confess, or else — for consistency is a 
jewel — adopt the attendant dogmata and ritual — with what 
face can you ask us to believe your spirits, who, judged by 
the ancient spirit-canons and tests, much more strict and sci- 
entific than yours, are all found to be " depraved and evil dae- 
mons." Please, now, do not evade a fair question — were the 
ancients deceived in this matter of spirit-intercourse and 
spirit-teaching ? if no, then recognise and obey the ancient 
teachings ; if yes, then by what arguments are you to con- 
vince us that you are not dupes also 1 You will not however 
be persuaded, even by Mr. Thomas Taylor, to go over to Jupi- 
ter and Apollo, at least not at present, ultimately I think you 
will, for you already begin to talk of the " gods " and the 
" semidivine " in the spheres, but you are not now quite ready 
for the whole pagan divology and ritual, yet you have the ig- 
norance or the effrontery to bring back, and offer to us as a 
new revelation, and substitute for Christianity, the dregs of 
the ethico-religious theories which belong to, and went along 
with, this pagan divology, and that too with the same sneers 
at Christianity with which your apocatastatic predecessors 
defended as better than it a higher form of these same theo- 
ries. Do you believe that men not wholly ignorant of history 
will accept this pagan patchwork, which the spirits have fished 
up from the limbo of things lost, as something new and " never 
before vouchsafed to mortal man." Do you expect to resusci- 
tate, wherewith to attack Christianity anew, this dead heath- 
enism, which of old was suffocated and expired by the stench 
of its own noisomeness, so soon as Christianity could expose 
to the sun its foetid corruptions and rottenness ? do you think 
now to frighten Christianity from its propriety by raising 



147 

the ghost of this dead champion I Surely, quern Den.-, \uU 
perdere, prius dcmentat. as of old, or else how could you tole- 
rate for a moment, how could you publish and annotate, how 
could 3^011 present to the consideration of rational men, such 
insane babble, such pantheistic nonsense, such a travestie of 
Dcmoerito-cpicurean day-dreams, such a "Vestiges of Crea 
tion " run mad, as is the Cosmogony of " Nature's Divine 
Revelations?" And yet, I know of nothing you have from 
the spirits, which, as compared with Christianity, is any more 
worthy of attention, or indeed, which is more reliable or bet- 
ter accredited — for is not the account of one who laying aside 
the body for a time, has visited the spheres, travelled through 
all time and space, and comes back to give their history and 
geography in his own person as worthy of acceptance as that 
of a spirit resident, who, as you yourselves say, can communi- 
cate what he knows only very imperfectly through the organs 
of another ? 

You and your spirits speak with bitter hatred, and with 
the most vulgar ribaldry of Christianity, and of all its friends ; 
indeed, they and the legislators are the cause of most of the 
evils which exist among men — for, somehow, the development 
of the inherent goodness of the " disintegrated " fragment of 
the " great germ," which exists in Man, has been, always and 
everywhere, for the most part, and still is, repressed, or comes 
forth in the form of evil, through the wickedness of men — and 
yet, notwithstanding your instinctive, manifest, and palpable 
hatred of Christianity, you have the impudence to claim its 
Author as one of your Mediums, as did your heathen proto- 
types before you. You profess to look upon Christ as a man 
perfect beyond all modern example, hence a capital Medium, 
and one who, according to your theory, must have received his 
instructions and communications from the very highest sour- 
ces ; pray how do you reconcile it with the character of a man 
even of common honesty — if he was only what you and the 
spirits represent him to be — that he made such wholly false 
pretensions — as, that he came down from heaven, that he was 



148 

before Abraham, that he would raise the dead and judge 
them, that he had all power in heaven and earth ? Was all 
this only an oriental way of speaking, meaning that he was 
one of your preexistent germs, and that being a good Medium 
and Clairvoyant he thence derived the " knowledge which is 
power 1 " Moreover, deriving his doctrines — yourselves being 
judges — from the very fountain, or from a higher source than 
is possible for any other man, how is it that his essential 
teachings are so wholly subversive of your own ? was his God 
the great Germ of Nature, the Soul of the World, an imper- 
sonal Principle, operating involuntarily throughout the vast 
machine, 

" Whose Body Nature is, and God the Soul ?" 
a god towards whom it is impossible to be conscious of any 
moral or spiritual (in the christian sense) obligation, or in- 
deed to hold any spiritual relations ; for who would not be 
amused at the thought of spiritual responsibility to the law of 
gravity, for instance, or at the suggestion of his duty to offer 
gratitude, or religious homage, to ^that beneficent " Law of 
Nature," although in relation to him, and for him, it works 
out and exhibits, (at least in spirited language) Justice. Mercy, 
Wisdom, Truth, Love, Goodness 1 Is such the God whom 
Christ came to declare ? And do his teachings express or 
imply the impossibility of the existence of sin in any spiritu- 
al sense 1 and does he accordingly apologise for it, as the 
unfortunate result of circumstances, and as deserving pity, 
and not punishment ? and tell us that the wicked will be, in 
the next world, simply not quite as happy at first as others ? 
— or rather, your doctrine is that- — not the ivicked, of which 
in your opinion, there are, and by your theory, there can be, 
none, but the " unprogressed," will be where some others 
might not be happy ; but since they have their choice, and 
inasmuch as happiness is wholly a matter of taste, they can 
hardly be said to be less happy than others,— did Christ 
teach that the belief of religious truth is not an act of choice, 
and that therefore there is no obligation to believe what is 



149 

not " mathematically demonstrated " to the understanding ? 
and did he accordingly encourage men to ask for a sign, and 
to expect one to rise from the dead, as often as they had a 
doubtful question to be answered, or a morbid and profane 

curiosity to he gratified ? Did he himself consult the psycho- 
metric Mediums around him. -whose spirits cried out at his 
presence, " we knoAr thee who thou art ? Art thou come to 
torment us before the time?" Did Christ, while his mouth 
was filled with beautiful Epicurean aesthetico-ethical small 
talk, and Carlyleish sing-song of the "Eternal Laws," at the 
same time, dig down, and subvert, the very foundations of all 
spiritual righteousness and religion ? Did he preach nothing 
beyond your merely zoological, or apiary virtues, and enforce 
or urge the practice of them by the promise of Mohamedan 
gardens, and other beautiful and most delightful paradises, 
for — Animals ? Is it possible that such a substitute for 
Christianity can be deliberately offered, with sneers at " old 
mythological religions," by sane men, to a Christian people? 
or that any Christian man can contemplate it, without the 
mingled feelings of astonishment, grief, scorn, pity, and "right- 
eous indignation," at so monstrous, and impious a proposition ? 
With such an " improvement " upon Christianity, as I suppose 
you call it, or a " progressed " Christianity, — for some of you 
are very indignant at the suggestion of a doubt in regard to 
your being Christians ; indeed, you condescendingly propose 
to reaffirm the fundamental truths of Christianity, " clarified 
from error," — with such a dead heathenism, mingled with a 
maimed Christianity, and that robbed of its vital principle, 
and cut off at the root, how dare you appeal to Christ as 
among those who confirm your doctrines ? Well, — and truly, 
for once,— may your spirits inform you that they never have 
seen Christ, and you might perhaps learn from other quite as 
reliable sources, that, probably, they never will. You seem 
fond of appropriating the language of christians ; everything 
with you is " spiritual" Had you studied Christianity in- 
stead of vituperating it ; had you " progressed " by the devel- 



150 

opment of your own spiritual being, instead of talking so 
much of " Progression ;" you would, by this time, have dis- 
covered that your " New Dispensation" as you falsely and 
profanely call it, so far from being spiritual, never anywhere 
rises above the merely psychical, that it neither recognizes nor 
provides for— rather excludes from its very idea — truly spir- 
itual relations. — However, it were idle to attempt to make 
you understand the christian definition of that word ; for how 
is it possible for you to apprehend that, which to know, re- 
quires the exercise of faculties still latent ? You appeal very 
triumphantly to your evidence of the mathematical certainty, 
and " real reality " of spirit-intercourse and spirit-responses . 
My purpose does not require me at all to dispute the fact . 
but do you not perceive that the " real reality," and truth of 
the said responses, in regard to things otherwise unknown, in 
regard, that is, to the new (" so called,") teachings of the 
Dispensation, do not thence, by any means, follow ? Do you 
not perceive — no, excuse me, you cannot, seeing perceive 
what is nevertheless true, — that for the christian conscious- 
ness no supposable quantity or degree of the evidence you 
speak of, accompanied by the doctrines you teach, — should 
your circles be seen daily, or nightly, floating and gyrating in 
the air, and chanting pagans in honor of their patron spirits ; 
should the said spirits personally appear, robed in the real 
Iamblichian halo, and by voluntary oath or affirmation, attest 
each others truth and veracity ; — should all this, and still 
more astonishing new developments of the laws of nature oc- 
cur, it would only prove to the christian intellect and con- 
sciousness, the existence of a daamonopathy of which false- 
hood is the natural product. 

But, the tree is known by its fruit, and your healing Me- 
diums, your possessed or obsessed people, as you assert them 
to be, restore the sick, and do undeniable cures. There is no 
occasion to doubt it. The ancient theurgists, and heathen 
Mediums also did the same, (see Vita Apollonii.) and even 
Roman Emperors, who are not usually reckoned a very pious 



151 

class of men. (Tacitus) So also, does every new patent 
medicine, and new medical theory. It were an excellent 
stock in trade for a " Curiosity Shop." to fish up, from "the 
deep deep sea ; ' of the past, but a tithe of the medical " infal- 
libles" which lie buried there, and which infallibly cured 
thousands upon thousands in their time. Here is one as good, 
and as marvellous in its effects, as any of the spirit-recipes ; 
— for why ? it is also of celestial origin. 

•• An admirable Oyntment for Wounds." 

" Take of Moss that groweth upon a Scull, - - ii. oz. 

Of Man's Grease, -------- ii. oz. 

Of Mummy, and Man's Blood, each, - - oz. ss. 

Linseed Oyl, --------- ii. Drach. 

Oyl of Roses, & Bole-Armoniack, each, - i. oz. 
Let them be all beat together in a Morter so long, until 
they come to a most pure and subtil Oyntment ; then keep it 
in a Box. And when any wound happens, dip a stick of wood 
in the blood that it may be bloody ; which being dyed, thrust 
it quite into the aforesaid Oyntment, and leave it therein ; 
afterwards binde up the wound with a new Linen Rowler, 
every morning washing it with the Patient's own urine ; and 
it shall be healed, be it never so great, without any Plaister, 
or Pain. After this manner you may Cure any one that is 
wounded, though he be ten miles distant from you, if you have 
but his blood. It helpeth also other -griefs, as the pain in 
the Teeth and other hurts, if you have a stick wet in the 
Blood, and thrust into the Oyntment, and there left. These 
are the wonderful gifts of God, given for the use and health 
of man." {Paracelsus of Celestial Medicines.) 

There are other by-gone specifics, innumerable as the ora- 
cles of Apollo, equal to this, in mystic virtues ; and let not 
any prudish recent Unguent stink conteinptfully, or medical 
infidel sneer, or modern healing Medium turn up its nose, — 
for t/iese, also, each in its time, could boast of undeniable and 
undoubted cures, at least, no one competent to form a correct 



152 

opinion will be disposed to douht the reality of them. And 
yet, notwithstanding the " immutability of the laws of nature," 
and that " retrogression is an impossibility," in a short time, 
such things are no longer heard of, and sick men are fam to fall 
back into the hands of the disciples of Hippocrates, and un- 
der the vulgar and every-day laws of Nature. I was once 
cognizant of a new development on a small scale where the 
subjects of it were under the direction, not of the spirits, but 
of " the spirit." " The spirit " directed them to heal the sick 
which they did — in one case " the spirit " directed them to go 
to a woman who had been eight years bed-ridden, and to com- 
mand her to arise and walk ; they obediently did so, and the 
woman arose and walked. Thereupon "the spirit" feeling 
itself strong, commanded them to raise the dead, but on this 
occasion " the spirit " proved to have more courage than con- 
duct. These people were wholly, in all their relations, under 
the direction of " the spirit," and were immaculately holy ; 
but alas for divine and sinless human nature, " in unfortunate 
circumstances," " the spirit " directed brother B., to take 
brother F's wife, and brother C, to take Miss L., for their 
"spiritual partners," &c, &c 3 of which spiritual unions fol- 
lowed results much more physiological than spiritual. There- 
upon this development — for bigotry and intolerance are not 
yet wholly eradicated from among men — was suppressed. 

There is a principle as old as " the primitive history," or 
" excellent soft bark," as some of you call the Bible, reasser- 
ted by Christ, insisted upon most bigotedly, as you must 
think, by St. Paul, more modestly by other Apostles, reitera- 
ted in modern times especially by Pascal : to the effect that 
the miracle is to be judged of by the doctrine, and not the 
doctrine by the miracle. These are not red-letter names in 
your calender, and their opinions, I am aware, will not be 
authoritative with you, but, as I said before, this Chapter 
though addressed to you, is not written for you. "What then 
are your doctrines ? A pantheistic theology, the identification 
of God with Matter, or, a Soul of the World, or vital Princi- 



153 

pie of the Universe ; — hence, man's responsibility is only to 
the Laws of Nature ; the denial, consequently, of the fact of 
true spiritual relations, of the existence of sin and guilt, with 
an attempt to show that the universal consciousness of hu- 
manity on this point is fallacious and false ; — the reiteration 
of the so often exploded falsehood, that man, having no free 
will, is but an involuntary and irresponsible link in the end- 
less chain of Nature ; — the reassertion, therefore, of the pri- 
mal lie of Eden — " Ye shall not surely die ;" — the physical 
demonstration, for as many as comprehend interiorly the im- 
mutable laws of Nature, of the immortality of the soul ; be- 
cause it is perfectly obvious from the " inherent and immuta- 
ble laws of progression," that every particle of matter in the 
Universe ascending through multifarious forms, from the 
angular to the circular, from the circular to the spiral, and so 
on to the spiritual, " will ultimately pass to the perfection of 
a spiritual essence ;" — allurement to virtue by the promise of 
delicious oriental paradises, after death, of which however the 
most vicious, as well as the virtuous, may take their choice in 
the spheres ; — -this linsy-woolsy tissue of ancient and modern 
sophistry, absurdity, and impiety, sugared over Avith sickly 
sentimentalism, and milk-and-water morality, with the privi- 
lege of perpetual appeal, for its true interpretation, to the 
re-established pagan oracles, and ancient necromancy revived ; 
— this, Gentlemen Spiritists, this 1 1 is your substitute for 
Christianity, your remedy for all the ills of humanity, your 
panacea for the diseases of society, your Grand Catholicon, 
Matchless Sanative, and Elixir Vitas, for the regeneration, 
reorganization, and earthly perfection of mankind. 

But these doctrines and principles seem not, at first sight, 
at least to ordinary minds, at all calculated to produce the 
effects promised from them, the specific not at all adapted to 
the disease. How then comes it that such magnificent results 
are so confidently predicted from the effect of such apparently 
inadequate causes? Why, plainly, just as in chemistry, the 
mixing of two fluids will sometims, most unexpectedly to the 
20 



154 

non-scientific observer, — and, indeed, to the scientific also, 
until after experiment, — produce a solid, or the rubbing to- 
gether of two solids produce a fluid ; and as in medicine, the 
physician is astonished at first to find some of the most taste- 
less, and as he would think, inert, substances produce the 
most energetic effects ; even so, in moral pathology, remedies 
must be at first empirical ; and here, especially, " foolish 
things," that is, things which one would not suspect to have 
any such latent virtues, are sometimes found, it is said, to 
prove most successful — by experiment. The old adage, " ne- 
mium ne crede colori " don't trust to appearances, is, no doubt, 
therefore, as true in morals as anywhere else. It is obvious 
then, gentlemen Spiritists, that your confidence in spiritism is 
not the result of any rash and incautious theorising, a conclu- 
sion drawn from ill-established premises, but that you have 
followed the true Baconian method, in short, that it is found- 
ed on experience. I had, for the moment, well nigh forgotten, 
that, among other apocatastatic coincidences, the very same 
doctrines which you teach, authenticated and confirmed by the 
very same methods, backed, and sustained by the same ener- 
getic development of the understanding, accompanied by the 
same scientific and commercial activities, practically applied, 
on the largest scale, to the same public improvements and 
facilities, and to the same aesthetic civilization ; — these same 
doctrines, aided by the same attendants and circumstances, 
were tried in their effects upon the morals of the communities 
of the ancient period, on a very large scale, and with very 
uniform results. Certainly, the trial was sufficiently long, 
and sufficiently varied, to be quite satisfactory. You have, 
therefore, I admit, an undeniable, and inalienable, right to 
appeal to experience against all gainsayers. And the result 
of that experiment, — how admirable ! ! Surely, you must 
admire it, and therefore you are so desirous to bring again 
into full operation the causes which produced it. The morals 
of old Rome the Mother of arms ! from the palace of the 
Caesars, down to the ergastulum, and the studies ! of the 



155 

gladiators ; the morals of Athens ! the Mother of Arts !-^- 
the morals of Antioch ! the seat of the politest ancient civili- 
zation, the Paris of antiquity, — the morals of Alexandria ! 
the gate of ancient Commerce ! — the ancient Republic, the 
Empire, in all their provinces, — how exempt from social and 
political depravities ! — how free from the mis-organizations of 
society to -which you attribute most modern misdemeanors ! — 
how " progressed " almost to obedience to that Law of Asso- 
ciation and Brotherhood which is your summum bonum for 
this world and the next ! This morality, this legitimate and 
admirable result of ancient spiritism, how desirable that it 
should take the place of the modern tame, timid, moral pru- 
dery, " cabined, cribbed, confined," shorn of its fair propor- 
tions, and restrained of its " free development," by " the 
gloomy dogmas " of the " old mythological religion !" how de- 
sirable ! how desirable ! ! and when, as the spirits trium- 
phantly promise, faith in the New Dispensation shall have 
become " universal," then shall that (by you) devoutly wished 
for consummation be realized ! — then shall our apocatastatic 
period have completed itself, and have come back, full circle, 
copying in detail, or rather, repeating, as the doctrines and 
" manifestations," so also, and consequently, the manners and 
morals, of its illustrious predecessor ! alter et idem ! alter 
et idem ! ! 



CHAPTER XIII. 

The oracles are dumb, 
No voice or hideous hum 

Runs through the arched roof in words deceiving, 
Apollo from his shrine 
Can no more divine, 

With hollow shriek the steep of Delphos leaving. 
***** 

Peor and Baalim 
Forsake their temples dim, 

With that twice battered god of Palestine ; 
And mooned Ashtaroth, 
Heavens queen and mother both, 

Now sits not girt with tapers' holy shine. 

Milton, Ode on the Nativity. 

fisyag ITav tb6v^K6v. 
The great Pan is dead. 

Plutarch, De Oraculorum Defectu. 



What is the true and natural relation of Christianity to the 
■present manifestations? In order to answer this question 
correctly it seems to me necessary first to inquire in regard 
to the character of the ancient <5ai,aovi£o/jisvoi or demoniacs 
spoken of in the New Testament. Were they persons labor- 
ing under certain diseases supposed to have been induced by 
the presence or agency of malignant daemons ; or were they 
those whose organs were taken possession of and controlled 
by spirits, in the opinion of persons of that period, in the 



same manner as spirits are supposed to control and act 
through the organs of certain persons at the present time ? 
It is plain, I think, from the New Testament, that it was not 
the common opinion at that time, as some have asserted it 
was, that diseases in general were produced by some agency 
of evil spirits, because the distinction is everywhere made be- 
tween " healing diseases," and " casting out devils." Neither 
does it appear that any particular diseases were supposed to 
imply, necessarily, the presence of spirits. The most that 
can be inferred from the New Testament is that diseases did 
not exclude them. Certain diseases are commonly supposed 
to have indicated to the ancients the presence of daemons — in- 
sanity, for instance ; yet this disease is spoken of as being 
cured in the New Testament without any mention of daemons, 
although in another place a lunatic is mentioned as being also 
dsemoniac. So daemoniacs are spoken of who were deaf and 
blind, but deafness and blindness are cured also where there 
were no daemons. Epilepsy is one of the diseases which it is 
thought the ancients believed to be owing to spirit agency ; 
and the case in the New Testament where the possessed is 
said to have been thrown down, and " wallowed foaming," is 
often reckoned a case of epilepsy. It is certain, however, 
from ancient profane authors, that epilepsy often occurred 
where there was no suspicion of daemons ; it is also in evi- 
dence that in some kinds of possession the person supposed to 
be under control of the spirits fell down and foamed at the 
mouth. Thus in Apuleius (Oratio de Magia) it appears that 
he was accused of enchanting a certain boy, because he (the 
boy) exhibited symptoms of epilepsy in his presence ; but he 
was acquitted by proving that the boy had real epilepsy, and 
that there was therefore no occasion to suppose enchantment, 
or the induction or presence of spirits. The Pythia, too, was 
convulsed and foamed at the mouth, and so, probably, did all 
those who were said to divine by "rage and fury? I think 
the conclusion is legitimate, therefore, as far as regards the 
New Testament, that the ^ai|xovi^o(xevoi are not to be considered 



158 

as, in the opinion of their contemporaries, merely diseased per- 
sons. It seems certain, then, that they were supposed to be 
persons possessed and controlled by spirits in such wise that 
thfcir organs during the obsession did not respond to then- 
own volition but to the will of the daemon ; for it is evident 
that the phenomena were not looked upon as owing to any 
merely abnormal condition of their own minds, but to the 
presence and agency of some other intelligent and personal 
beings. That such was the opinion is plain from the history, 
because the possessed persons are not said to act or to speak, 
but the spirits are represented as the agents in all that they 
do or say. Their object then, plainly, was not to inflict dis- 
ease of body or mind, any more than it is of their successors 
at the present time. They seem to have been no more nume- 
rous, propably less so than at present. In the whole of 
Christ's ministry there are not recorded, perhaps, more than 
a dozen instances of the exercise of his power to cast them 
out, though sometimes more than one, and sometimes many 
persons may have been set free where only one record is 
made. 

They seem to have acted through — as we should say — Me- 
diums of different kinds. Most of the possessed, or at least 
many of them, were evidently very good speaking Mediums — 
the spirits spoke by them readily and rapidly. Several, how- 
ever, are recorded as dumb, where it is remarkable that the 
spirit and not the man is said to be dumb, that is, he had not 
yet acquired control of the Medium's organs of voice. Others 
appear to have been Mediums for the physical manifestations, 
perhaps for pantomime, as where the dsemoniac simulated epi- 
lepsy ; and the spirits of the dasmoniacs among the tombs 
could both speak, and exhibit as much physical energy as the 
strongest of the modern spirits. Other persons again were 
simply troubled (o^Xou^svoi, disturbed, vexed) with evil spirits 
— they were perhaps rapping about them, seizing them by 
the arm, scratching them on the legs, patting them on the 
head, and after other modern methods soliciting leave to enter, 



159 

or perhaps they were noisy about their houses, deranged their 
furniture, &c. These Mediums too, like other ancient Me- 
diums, as the Pythia, the Indian Sages, and Apollonius Ty- 
anensis, and like many modern Mediums also, seem to have 
been clairvoyant, or psychometric, that is, they could read the 
characters of those they looked upon, for they cried out at the 
presence of Christ, " Ave know thee who thou art ; " so also 
the soothsaying damsel spoken of in the Acts exclaimed at 
sight of the Apostles, " These be the servants of the most 
high God." 

It does not appear definitely from the Evangelists whether 
these dsemoniacs made any use of their peculiar spirital en- 
dowment, or the spirits of them. They are spoken of inci- 
dentally, just as we now speak of Mediums, it being taken for 
granted in either case that everybody knows what a deemoniac 
or a Medium is. The case however in the Acts, which is per- 
haps the key to many of the others, answers precisely to one 
of our female Mediums travelling with her keepers for their 
mutual benefit, and it is evident from other sources of inform- 
ation that the heathen world at that time was full of such, and 
they were probably not wanting in Judaea. 

These ancient daemoniacs were, then, undoubtedly parallel, 
and the same in kind, with those persons who claim the honor 
of being considered the subjects of a similar daemonopathy at 
the present time. That dsemoniacs were common among the 
pagans as well as the Jews is proved by the Acts of the 
Apostles and also by profane authors ; and since they are 
known to have been Mediums for divination and other pur- 
poses, the conclusion seems unavoidable that those among the 
Jews were also connected more or less with the divination and 
necromancy of the period. The character of the sorcerer, too, at 
Samaria, seems to have been identical with that of the magi- 
cians or enchanters scattered throughout the Roman Empire, 
by whose aid people were in the habit of consulting the spir- 
its. And there was plainly no difference in kind between 
the spirit manifestations spoken of in the New Testament and 



160 

those so common in the heathen world at the same time. — 
Now it is not necessary to my purpose to determine the pointy 
or even to express an opinion, whether the ancient spirit-phe- 
nomena as they were by some at that time supposed to be, 
occuring both among Jews and pagans, were really produced 
by the agency of unearthly spirits, or if they were not rather 
the effect of certain relations of the human mi n d and body 
the law of which was at that time, and is now, unknown. 
This point, in regard to the facts recorded in the New Testa- 
ment, will be decided, probably, somewhat according to the 
inquirer's answer to the previous question, " What think ye of 
Christ ? " Those who attribute to him the highest character, 
must of course believe that the true explanation was perfectly 
well known to him. If then the phenomena were not at all 
the effect of spirit-agency, it is extremely difficult, to find a 
reason why he spoke and acted in accordance with the com- 
mon but erroneous view of the subject taken by his contempo- 
raries. That there may have been reasons sufficient to in- 
duce this line of conduct cannot be denied, but at the same 
time, they must, I think, be unknown to men. Those for 
whom his opinion would not be authoritative would of course 
determine their own on other grounds. I think it cannot be 
gainsayed, however, without a pretty violent intei^retation of 
the New Testament, that both Christ and the Apostles be- 
lieved the manifestations which come under their observation* 
to be owing to the presence of spirits. But whatever may be 
the decision of this point, I think it is certain beyond all hon- 
est doubt, that the whole ancient dasmonopathy, if daemono- 
pathy it were, including both Jews and pagans, with all its 
attendant manifestations, was essentially the same thing in 
kind, and the product of essentially the same causes as what 
is now technically called the " New Dispensation " — that the 
present spirit-phenomena and spirit-intercourse are but the 
reiteration of the same things which, in ancient times, were 
at their height about the commencement of the christian era. 
What then was the aspect of Christianity, and of its friends, 



161 

towards this development at that time ? Did the conduct of 
Christ indicate that he thought it offered — whatever might be 
his opinion of the cause of it — a legitimate method of holding 
intercourse with the dead, and of acquiring information in re- 
gard to the future world ? Some of the spirits whom he met 
with were evidently not altogether uninformed in regard to 
the " spirit world ; " was he in the habit of consulting them on 
that point or any other ? Did Paul request the soothsaying 
damsel or her keepers to put him in communication with the 
spirits, that he might inquire in regard to the proper doctrine 
to be preached 1 or did Peter ask Simon Magus to enchant 
some boy for him that he might have his curiosity gratified in 
regard to the geography of the many mansions which his 
Master had informed him of the existence of? Did the Apos- 
tles advise or encourage £i<5wXoAa<rpsia, or the practice of fre- 
quenting and consulting consecrated images, by which respon - 
ses were given, and spirit-intercourse carried on, as it is now 
by tables and other furniture 1 

Did Christ or the Apostles encourage the kind of curiosity 
which is stimulated and gratified by the present, as it was, 
by the ancient necromancy ? Was there, in his opinion, no 
obligation to recognize and obey the spiritual truth which he 
taught or any spiritual truth, unless it was authenticated by 
that kind of evidence ? Did St. Paul reckon the pagan spir- 
its to be the far progressed, highly developed, and " semi-di- 
vine " souls of dead men, whom it would be highly proper to 
consult in regard to theological matters, when he wrote the 
first chapter of Romans for instance, or when he said that the 
heathen offerings were made unto devils ? Does the New, or 
the Old Testament anywhere advise necromancy as the true 
art or science whereby to arrive at a correct knowledge of the 
world to come ? 

Certainly whoever considers these questions with an ex- 
amination of the opinions of the Founder, and of the first 
promulgators of Christianity, cannot fail of the proper an- 

21 



162 

swer. But men often have incorrect opinions, alas ! how often, 
— of what is implied in their own principles. Did these men, 
then, misunderstand their own doctrines in this respect, and 
is it appropriate and necessa-iy for Christianity, that " one 
should rise from the dead in order to convince us that its prin- 
ciples are not delusive and false ? or to enlighten us where 
its principles come short? Does it teach anything which 
does not find its correlative consciousness, and recognition of 
its truth, in every human soul, which does not love darkness 
and neglect or refuse to bring itself into conscious relation to 
the whole truth which it teaches % Can any human soul ask 
any question in regard to the true principles of duty, in re- 
gard to its true spiritual relations, in regard to what consti- 
tutes the true well being of the human spirit, in regard to 
the means necessary to attain that highest end, which Chris- 
tianity does not answer ? Or is this not the proper purpose 
of religion ? which ought rather to address itself to the senses 
and sensuous understanding ; and to " consider its teachings 
on the habits, life, condition, and circumstances, of the spirit 
after death of the most vital importance properly to be com- 
municated ;" (Spiritualism, p. 134) and so, to gratify idle 
curiosity, and make the sensuous, and even the sensual happy, 
by describing to them as their future residence, celestial gar- 
dens most delightful to the senses, where they are to meet 
their wives and children and cousins ; and by assuring them, 
with testimony of those risen or returned from the dead, who 
have been there, that " 'spiritual food !! ! (Supernal Theolo- 
gy) consists of more delicious apples and peaches, and other 
fine fruits, had with very little labor, than inhabitants of this 
Earth can have any conception of? Is this, after all what 
is implied in, a sort of appendix to Christianity, a " pro- 
gressed " Christianity, notwithstanding the opinions of its 
Author, and which therefore very legitimately appeals to 
necromancy as among its appropriate, and most satisfactory 
evidences ? Christ and Christianity forgive me for asking 
the question. 



103 

It is plain that Christianity is, in its principles, at irrecon- 
cilable hostility with this re-development, and resurrection of 
the old spiritism, as it was at first with all the ancient forms 
of it. Indeed, at its very advent, it declared war against it ; 
in its very cradle it strangled this serpent ; or, rather, 
"bruised the heads" of this Hydra, and even amputated 
them. However, it is in their very nature to sprout again — 
not now for the first time — as soon as the cautery of pure 
undiluted spiritual truth ceases to be applied to them. True, 
they do not now appear — not yet — as Jupiter, and Apollo, 
and Venus, but they are the heads of the same beast still. 
Pan, indeed, " the great Pan," who was announced as dead, 
with groans and wailing of " the spirits," is fully resuscitated 
in his ancient form and proportions, which accounts well and 
naturally, for the reappearance of so many Satyrs in our 
time. 

What then should be the aspect of Christianity towards 
the present manifestations ? It is not for me to advise the 
Church. Yet surely, one would think, — were she wise in her 
generation — that she has tried sufficiently the experiment of 
descending from her proper sphere of the spiritual ; of meet- 
ing the world half-way, or some other proportion of the way 
between them ; of borrowing the weapons of her foes ; of 
subsidizing her natural enemies to fight in her cause. The 
Church, however, even the most unspiritual and semi-worldly 
organizations which go by that name, — with the exception 
perhaps, of the extreme left wing of the universalists — is not, 
I think, in danger of any coalition or coalescence with the 
present self-confident and very threatening development. 
Its materialism is too gross, its sensuousness too coarse, its 
Deity, if Deity it has, too Epicurean, its attacks upon Chris- 
tianity too unskilful and vulgar, to seduce 'permanently more 
than the merest vestibulary lodgers in the Church ; or to 
alarm more than a few of the most timid worldly-wise-men. 
To " the world," whether in the Church, or out of it, it seems 



164 

likely to become a more than ordinarily dangerous form of 
delusion ; yet even in " the world," where it can be brought, 
in its true and full lineaments, to the perception and con- 
sciousness of men, I trust that few except those — perhaps not 
few — who are pre-adapted and pre-conformed to it, will remain 
long under its influence. 



CHAPTER XIV. 

Almyghte God that made mankyn, 
He schilde his servandes out of syn, 
And maynteyne tham with might and mayne. 

Metrical Romances. 

For never wight so evill did or thought, 

But would some rightful! cause pretend, though rightly nought. 
Spenser, Faerie Queene. 

Much pains have been taken to poison the minds of all ranks of people, but 
especially the middling and the lower classes, by the most impious and blas- 
phemous publications that ever disgraced any Christian country. — Porteus. 



In this concluding chapter I wish to address a few words 
to believers in Christianity. Not indeed to those who are 
fully and in the highest sense Christians. They, having 
found the words of Christ more than verified, that he who 
conies to Him shall never hunger, and that he who believes on 
Him shall never thirst, need not, neither woull I presume to 
offer to them any suggestions in regard to the subject under 
consideration. With whatever kind, or degree, or amount of 
evidence the " New Dispensation " should be offered to their 
spiritual perception, it would be instantly and indignantly re- 
jected by the inherent antipathies of the spiritual life. But 
there is another, and much larger class of Christians, many of 



166 

them, indeed, only nominally such, who, although their moral 
sensibilities are shocked, beeome puzzled and bewildered by 
the " manifestations," so strange, marvellous, and as they sup- 
pose, altogether new ; and so are induced to admit the truth 
of the theory of spirit-agency because they see not how else 
the facts are to be accounted for. Having gone so far, anoth- 
er and wholly different conclusion, viz., that such a wonderful 
and unheard of intervention of departed spirits can be only for 
most important and truthful purposes — this second conclusion 
I say, is, as it were, smuggled in, under cloak and cover of the 
first, although they are entirely distinct, and have no natural 
or necessary connexion. Indeed, in regard to the first con- 
clusion, they do not seem to remember that, although a certain 
theory may seem to account for the whole of certain phenom- 
ena, it does not, by any means, follow that it makes us ac- 
quainted with the true causes of them. The records of science 
show abundant examples of this fallacy. Neither does it fol- 
low that a theory is true because it seems to be the only jios- 
sible way of accounting for all the facts. But the spirit-the- 
ory, in the present case, does not even account for all the 
facts ; in truth it does not account for any of them, except by 
assuming, or reasoning in a circle to prove, that spirits are 
possessed of such physical and psychological qualities as the ex- 
planation of the facts demands, which is a Avholly gratuitous 
assumption. But in regard to merely sensuous, visible and 
palpable phenomena, such, for instance, as the locality, des- 
criptive geography, and habits of the second sphere, which all 
spirits profess to be acquainted with, how does the spirit-the- 
ory account for the wide disagreement and contradictory char- 
acter of the spirit-evidence ? The theory does not account for 
that, or for innumerable other ridiculous self-contradictions of 
of the spirits ; but its friends are ingenious beyond all paral- 
lel at inventing supplementary theories for each particular 
case, as self-contradictory, however, as the self-contradictions 
they are intended to explain. But many of them, it must be 
confessed, are extremely interesting for the perfect naivete 



167 

and innocence with which they are promulgated. Take, for 
instance, that " cabinet specimen " already quoted in a previ- 
ous chapter, where we are told that if we adopt the theory 
that the communicating spirit is scarcely more developed than 
the Medium, we shall find no difficulty in accounting for con- 
tradictions, the ignorance, or lack of development, &c. in the 
matter communicated. Now, in regard to matters coming un- 
der the cognizance of the senses, I cannot help thinking that 
a majority, even of Mediums, could give a tolerably uniform 
description of. a village in which they had all resided ; but, in 
regard to the other facts to be accounted for, I freely admit that 
the ingenious author of this sub-theory has hit upon an admi- 
rable explanation. So, indeed, the ingenuity manifested in a 
great many other explanations of spirit-contradictions, if ap- 
plied to the invention of labor-saving machinery, must certain- 
ly bring out a vast number of patentable contrivances. But 
if the whole mass of the testimony of modern spirits in regard 
to matters of mere fact — for in regard to doctrine their opin- 
ions are much more uniform — in regard to such 'phenomena as 
must come alike under the cognizance of the senses or " sense- 
powers " which all the spirits assert they possess — if the 
whole testimony on such points were subjectei to the ordeal 
of cross-questioning by a bar of clever lawyers, what would be 
the inevitable verdict of an intelligent court and jury in re- 
gard to the character of the spirits ? what, but that of a very 
competent judge of them in the ancient period, that " it is 
their very nature to lie ! ! " 

There is, however, no occasion to dispute this point with 
the spiritists ; there is no great objection to calling in the 
gods here, except the ancient dramatic one, " non dignus vin- 
dice nodus," the occasion is not worthy of the (" supposed ") 
company. On the contrary if these people choose to insist 
that they are the subjects of possession andobsession by spir- 
its from the other world, they ought, by all means, to be in- 
dulged in their opinion. It cannot fail to be a stong confirma- 
tion of the truth of Christianity for some minds otherwise un- 



168 

satisfied — it ought to be for all believers in the spirit-theory — 
this proof of its correctness in regard to the so much disputed 
doctrine of spirits. Five years ago these same men, who are 
among the leaders and abettors of the New Dispensation ridi- 
culed the dgemonology of the New Testament as among the 
lowest dregs of " old mythological religions." Now they ac- 
count for precisely the same manifestatations by exactly the 
same theory ; only they still eschew " the devil and his an- 
gels." Their spirits, that foam and rage with the ancient 
dsemoniac fierceness, and dash people upon the ground, are 
not quite so bad, merely " unprogressed." Indeed it seems 
quite likely, from the direction in which they are going, that 
in clue time they will be convinced of the existence of the other 
class — if they are another class — of spirits also, and likewise 
of the place " prepared for them." 

This matter of the place, by the way, " the bad place," 
seems to be almost as annoying to them as if they were al- 
ready in it. They lose no opportunity of vituperating, often 
with the coarsest and most insulting language, all who believe 
that God will make any essential difference, in the future 
world, between those who obey him and those who do not. 
The most " unprogressed " spirits met with in the spheres 
(See Spiritualism, Section xxxix.) are those who have taught 
on earth such " gloomy dogmas." who have degraded the 
character of the infinitely good — natured, and don't-care-what 
you-do-if-you-only-make-yourselves-happy god, by represent- 
ing him — oh ! vindictive tyranny, and old mythological re- 
ligion ! — as " angry with the wicked." Men ought not to be 
made uneasy, and to go along with troubled consciences, even 
the short road which leads to whatever kind of everlasting 
happiness may suit their taste. On this point there is extant 
a vision by the ci-devant Judge (See Shekinah, July 1853,) 
which is peculiarly instructive, almost as edifying as the 
spirit-confession of the poor hell-fire parson in Section 39. 
Their continually repeated calumny, that, to suppose Christ 
to have uttered such severe and indignant rebukes of sin, and 



169 

threatening^ against sinnej , f him, is a 

slander against that good man ; — their everlasting iteration 
and reiteration of the assertion that hell is only a hohgohlin 
dream of dead orthodoxy (" so called ") — these and many other 
such-like unequivocal indications make apparent to mere spec- 
tators, what perhaps does not come up fully to their own ob- 
servation, that they have not, after all,, succeeded in eradica- 
ting from their minds the common consciousness of all man- 
kind in regard to a spiritual retribution hereafter, and — " to 
compare great things with small" — remind one strongly of 
the brave buy who was not afraid, but who nevertheless was 
obliged to whistle louder and louder to keep up his courage. 
There can hardly be a stronger external proof of the truth of 
Christianity than the constant manifestation, by what the 
New Testament emphatically calls " the world," of that pe- 
culiar bitter hatred of its characteristic doctrines, that vindic- 
tive emotion in regard to them, of which fear is an essential 
element. For such as the Author of Christianity announced 
would be the relation of " the world " to his doctrines and to 
his disciples, such has ever been, and will ever be the relation 
of " the world " to Christianity, from the essential and inhe- 
rent elements of the character of each. Such, of course is, 
and will be the relation of the believers in the New Dispen- 
sation to Christianity ; of " the world " assuming to be spirit- 
ual : (while it is only spirited) of " flesh and blood " claiming 
to " inherit the kingdom of God." 

Let us, then, admit, since they insist upon it, that they are 
" possessed." The only important question still remains to 
be decided, what sort of spirits have taken possession of therm. 
Are they good, or are they evil spirits ? They themselves 
admit that they are part evil, at least as evil as any spirits 
can be, not as bad as the New Testament devils exactly, but 
evil in such a sense that their communications may be unre- 
liable, and even wilfully false. If, then, any of them are good 
and true, how are they to be distinguished from the evil and 
false? There is a very curious peep into the spheres in 



170 

" Spiritualism," Section 49, from which it appears that, " very- 
many (spirits) either from an over-anxiety to commune, or 
from a careless disregard of what they deem a trivial false- 
hood, assume false names," and we are further told that no 
one has been more often " falsely personated " than Sweden- 
borg. Was that the case when twenty spirits, voluntarily, 
" in the Name of God," swore to his identity 1 Was that the 
case when not long since, in France, (Cahagnet, The Celestial 
Telegraph) under adjuration " in the Name of God," which 
no spirit dares disobey, and after other scientific cautions 
against false impersonations, he gave responses, on almost all 
points, quite contradictory to those he gives here ? Was 
that the case with the authors of the profound (" so called ") 
communications purporting to come from the same Swedish 
philosopher, and from " my Lord Bacon," in " Spiritualism ?" 
Truly, if any man, who ever read ten lines of Bacon, or one 
treatise of the thoughtful Swede, can believe that either of 
those men could have perpetrated, even in their school-boy 
days, such rhapsodical inanities as are there fathered upon 
their far-progressed spirits, — certainly, credulity can no far- 
ther go, and never was known to go so far before. 

It cannot be said in this case, in order that " the reader 
may find no difficulty in extricating his mind from doubts," 
that it is " an unwarrantable thing to look for instruction 
much superior to the mental development of the Medium," be- 
cause in the first place, these were reckoned rather uncommon- 
ly wise men while " in the form," and their spirits are now 
far-progressed ; and in the next place, the communications 
kept clear of the mind of the Medium, and only come through 
his arm. There remain, therefore, for all minds not precom- 
mitted to credulity, but two possible methods of solution of 
this difficulty, — the moral and intellectual absurdity involved 
in the asserted authorship of these communications, — one is 
to suppose that these spirits were " falsely personated," and 
the other is to recur to the theory of Synesius already refer- 
red to, and to suppose that the brain-dribble of the Medium 



1T1 

himself, being in the way there set forth, expressed, flowed 
down through his arm, upon the paper. Incredulous men 
will adopt some one and some the other of these solutions, 
for myself, I profess my most religious belief in the latter. 
How then, provided we could previously know what spirits 
are competent to make known to us the most important and 
solemn of all truths, are they to be identified, and distin- 
guished from those who may, under most 'plausible pretexts, 
lead us into fatal errors, and delusions 1 What are the re- 
liable tests ? Shall we recur to the ancient and only scienti- 
fic method that I have heard of, that is, compel the spirit to 
appear, and judge of his character by the quality of the halo 
that surrounds him ? We are told that spirits can be " iden- 
tified beyond a doubt," by the test that they are cognizant of 
certain secrets known only to themselves and the questioner. 
But do not spirits, according to the highest spirit-authority, 
and asserted facts, read our thoughts 1 What need then that 
they should have known the secret before death ? Moreover 
the spirits read each others thoughts, from which two sources 
of information, it follows plainly, that any spirit, or at least — 
excluding the most material ones — most spirits can become 
acquainted with any person's secret whether on earth or in the 
spheres. This test, therefore, is good for nothing even where 
it can be applied. But it is not applicable to spirits long 
dead, and far-progressed, and therefore most competent to 
teach us — unless perchance there is in the spheres, or some- 
where else, as on earth in a less degree, a far-progression in 
depravity, and development of an intelligent evil principle. 
In which case, what would avail the modern mushroom tests 
against a haughty and far-unfolded intellect which might 
choose to amuse itself by mocking and duping men in regard 
to their most serious relations ? Such seems to be the dispo- 
sition, and the ability too, of some, and for aught that has 
been shown to the contrary, of all the spirits of the " New 
Aera," as many Circles in New- York can testify. 



172 

Surely there is need of scientific and infallible tests, and 
cf the most skilful and experienced of men to use them, in 
order to deal safely with beings intelligent, it may be, far 
bevond the measure of human minds, and, for auo-ht we know 
as malignant as they are intelligent. But they can be ad- 
jured in the Name of God and then they dare not lie ! (See 
Spiritualism.) One would suppose that if they were much 
afraid of God they would not lie without adjuration. But is 
it not impious, according to the spirits themselves, to repre 
sent the good and " impartial " God as angry even at the 
wicked ? (" so called.") TV hy then should the spirits be afraid 
of Him? — this, however, reminds one of another adjuration 
where the spirits replied, " Jesus I know, and Paul I know, 
but who are ye ?" " The manifestations," as I understand it, 
are the result of quite recent improvements in spirit-science 
in the spheres, — how the ancient manifestations were caused 
the Judge does not inform us, — but the development of the 
sciential faculties, — to repeat a trite truism — does not neces- 
sarily imply any corresponding, or indeed any, improvement 
of the moral character. This new spirit-science, then, may 
be used, may have been invented, as well by evil as by good 
spirits. They may " communicate " as skilfully, exhibit the 
" physical manifestations " (which though a perfectly natural 
effect of " progression " are spoken of as equivalent in their 
influence to miracles,) as remarkably, and, in short, employ 
the new science in whatever way they please to accomplish 
evil purposes. The question still recurs, how to distinguish 
the good from the evil spirits ? Oh ! but the good spirits 
teach such beautiful things ! Yes ; those parks and gardens 
in the spheres are very beautiful ! and a god that will never 
be angry with us — it is very pitiful and kind. So we come 
round to the old principle that the miracle, including the 
worker of it, must be judged by the doctrine. But, according 
to lamblichus, "an evil dceraon requires that his worshiper 
should be just, because he assumes the appearance of one 
belonging to the divine genus ; but he is subservient to (pro- 






1T3 

motes) what is unjust, because lie is depraved." With what 
remarkable and apocatastatical exactness this tallies with the 
experience of certain Circles in New York, where spirits, 
"falsely personating" the Apostles, preached capital sermons, 
and yet mocked their dupes with impious, and malignant 
practical directions. The same opinion, derived like that of 
Iamblichus, from experience, is also expresssd by believers in 
the New Dispensation themselves. How, then, can we dis- 
tinguish the good from the evil spirits ? or how can it be 
proved that they are not all evil. In regard to all properly 
spiritual or religious teachings, and teachers, there are but 
two methods of proving their truth possible or conceivable. 
The one is the exercise of such plainly supernatural power 
by the teacher as demonstrates a divine interposition for the 
purpose of accrediting truths important for man to know ; in 
which case a miracle is as credible as any other effect of a 
sufficient cause ; or secondly, the teachings, the doctrine, must 
be such as find their full and satisfactory recognition in every 
human soul, so fast, and so far, as it is unfolded to a con- 
sciousness of its real spiritual character and relations. — - 
Except upon this condition, spiritual teachings, religious 
doctrine, however true, can find no receptivity, or ability to 
know them as true, in those to whom they are addressed. 
But in order to a practical reception of spiritual truth, such 
a reception, that is, as shall control the conduct, another con- 
dition is equally indispensable, namely, that it should find 
a receptivity in the will and moral election of those to whom 
it is addressed. Hence it is that spiritual truth is a measure 
and test of the extent to which the spiritual is unfolded, and 
of the character, as good or evil, of those who hear it. 
Hence too, it follows that religious doctrine, that which is 
truly religious and addressed to and testing the spiritual in 
man, must of necessity excite the greatest diversity and con- 
trariety of opinions in regard to itself. Hence, again, the 
deep meaning and inevitable truth of the words of Christ : 
" I came. not to bring peace but a sword," for spiritual truth, 



174 

always implying submission to itself, when not loved, is, of 
necessity, hated. Hence, yet again, the fact that a religious 
doctrine divides men, who accept it as a religious doctrine, in- 
to parties and sects in regard to itself; and, especially, that 
it is hateful, and annoying to those who reject it — for men 
rather ridicule than hate a pretender whom they do not fear, 
---so far from diminishing the probability of its divine origin. 
is, on the other hand, one of the strong external evidences of 
its truth. Yet even so, and notwithstanding these and other 
obvious difficulties of testing the pretensions of a religious 
teacher by his doctrine, and in spite of the cautions suggested 
by Iamblichus, and by the experience of others ; this second 
method is still, the true and only reliable one, of distinguish- 
ing the good from the evil, the true from the false. It is es- 
pecially so in the present case, because there is no pretension 
to miracles here, and if there were, it is acknowledged that 
the evil spirits as well as the good can perform them, — 
What then is the doctrine of the spirits and of their interpre- 
ters ? And here it is obvious to remark that the doctrine, in 
order to prove the character of the teacher to be good, must 
be not only good, not mere sermons from evil spinits, but it 
must be all good, and wholly good. What, then, is the char- 
acter of the most common, prevailing, characteristic, orthodox 
(about to be " so called,") doctrine of the spirit-theology of 
the New Dispensation ? And that, not judged by the opin- 
ions of a few, or of many, of the present time, which might 
be to misjudge it ; but by the common and recorded religious 
consciousness of all mankind, to which, indeed, there have 
been some few exceptions, I dare venture to affirm either from 
non-development, or mis-development of the spiritual powers. 
If, then, the devil and all his angels, of the " old mythological 
religion," in Pandsemoniac conclave assembled, should set 
themselves to concoct the deadliest scheme within the compass 
of dasmoniacal craft, against the religious instincts, the spir- 
itual advancement, and the practical piety of mankind, could 
they do better for their purpose, than to fill their mouths with 



175 

fair words of virtue and brotherhood, and benevolence ; for, 
11 an evil daman requires that his worshiper should be just, 
because he assumes the appearance of one belonging to the 
divine genus ;" while at the same time, they undermine and 
eradicate from the soil of humanity all manly virtue, much 
more all religion, and even ail true benevolence, and self-sac- 
rificing love of one's neighbor, which are baseless and evan- 
escent as the morning rainbow portending storms, except so 
far as they are grounded in the love and fear of God. Could 
they do better than to make men believe, — if any, even devil- 
ish hallucination could make a mem believe — that they have 
no other responsibilities or accountabilities than those of a 
tree? — that "moral responsibility" is a phrase signifying 
nothing ? — that it is impossible for any rational mind to con- 
ceive of the existence of "free will ?" — that sin has no exis- 
tence ? — that the universal consciousness of moral guilt and 
consequent accountability is a delusion ? — that all men in the 
next world will choose their own residence and employments 
in the midst of sensuous and even sensual paradises ? — that 
God — if he be anything more than the positive pole of the 
grand, all-productive — for creation there is none — electro- 
magnetic battery of the Universe, or if he has anything to do 
except to observe the involuntary functions of his own body 
(the Universe) which are the laws of all Nature, man inclu- 
ded, who is a part of Nature, — that God, if there be any 
other God, is too good, kind, loving, 'pitifully disposed, even 
to be displeased at whatever his human children may choose 
to do ; much less, to punish them in any spiritual sense ? 
As for " indignation and wrath, tribulation and anguish," as 
expressive of the Divine relation to sin, and moral guilt, as 
far as language can express that relation, — what horrid blas- 
phemy ! of the "all-loving Father." Christian reader, do you 
think I am a man escaped from bedlam, or that I am relating 
some dreadful nightmare-dream, because such a theology could 
never have been conceived by any sane human mind ? Pri- 
thee do not accuse my brain of originating such thoughts 



176 

even in its dreams. If I found it subject to such, even in 
that state, I would have inserted in my Prayer Book an extra 
petition for defence against obsession and daeinonopathy. But 
that Brains which hail from the second or still higher spheres, 
are capable of excogitating or adopting, and of inculcating, 
for the good of mankind, such doctrines, I will convince you 
by quoting chapter and verse from the Canonical Books, and 
" Divine Revelations," of the " New Dispensation." 

And let us proceed in the reverse order, and begin with 
the character of God ; a very important starting point in all 
other religions with which I am acquainted, but apparently, 
very little accounted of in this, except negatively : at which 
I admired, until, in the course of much spirit-reading, which, 
in some measure, prepared me for something of the sort, I 
learned that " the soul does not love God objectively, but 
subjectively, i. e. the soul loves God through the centre of its 
own individuality, and not outside of itself!" (The Present 
Age & Inner Life, p. 272.) There is no need of an " outside '' 
God ! " Deus sum !" I am God myself ! the Macrocosm is 
God, therefore the Microcosm is God ! but Man is the Micro- 
cosm, therefore Man is God ! what occasion, then, to look for 
Deity " outside " of the centre of one's own individuality ? — 
There are vast numbers numbers of very sincere worshipers 
of God in this form. This doctrine, however, is not new even 
apocatastatically. But I also found it authoritatively revealed 
by an obsessed individual, in good and regular standing, that ; 
" Deity (whether " outside " or inside, as I suppose,) is not 
the legitimate object of man's religion." (The Religion of 
Manhood, p. 94.) Now this I reckon one of the original 
thoughts at the announcement of which one wonders that one 
never thought of it one's self, before. For of what possible 
use can " man's religion " be to God ? Why, obviously, none, 
the moment one thinks of it. But — I beg pardon of the 
reader, and of king Solomon ; the thought, after all, is but an 






ITT 

apocatastatic originality ! I had forgotten our Epicurean 
friends, in whose religion also the Divine Nature was : 
Ipsa suis pollens opibus, nihil indigo, nostri. 

However, even they held that it was no more than polite- 
ness and good manners to offer to the Deity some sort of for- 
mal homage, a kind of pepercorn quitrent, although practical- 
ly, it made no difference to Him, or to them. Even so it can- 
not to the Deity of, or to the believers in, the religion of the 
Xew Dispensation, as we shall see as we proceed with the 
investigation of the character of the new — apocatastatically 
new — '-outside " Deity. We will begin with very high, if not 
the very highest authority ; that of one who is a resident of 
the sixth sphere when he is at home, of one who announces 
himself : " In the Name of God I am Swedenborg." And as 
spirits cannot lie, " in the name of God" as all the priests 
and parsons do, there is no danger of his having been " falsely 
personated " in this instance, and therefore, his teaching must 
be among the most authoritative expositions of the veritable 
orthodox doctrine of the New Dispensation. What, then, is 
the doctrine of this Swedenborg, " identified beyond a doubt" 
in regard to the character of God 1 

" When the mind attempts to separate the spirit from mat- 
ter, it has no just conception of spirit. Therefore we cannot 

invest the Creator with form or personality." form or 

personality ? do I understand you Sir ? do you mean to say 
that we can not invest the Creator either with form or person- 
ality ? or do you mean to imply, as would seem from the con- 
text, that form and personality are the same ? Is it possible 
that you ; '' In the name of God Swedenborg," that you, 
mathematician, theologian, philosopher, metaphysician, of no 
mean rank in either character while on earth, have so pro- 
gressed backwards, all the way to the sixth sphere, as to 
have become capable of confounding form with personality, 
and of supposing that a personal Deity must be inclosed in 
some human, or other circumscription, and bo " located," or 
23 



178 

move from place to place ? In the promised, and I suppose, 
forthcoming next Volume of Spiritualism, will you have the 
goodness, my excellent spirit-friend, to explain ? The ques- 
tion is a personal one, involving your intellectual character, 
and I trust for the honor of metaphysics also, and the credit 
of the philosophy of the spheres, that I have misunderstood 
you. But let us go on with the quotation : — 

'•' What sort of person would that God be if the form de- 
pended upon the idea of man? The form would resemble 
that of man, as he is supposed to be the image (do you mean 
in the same form ?) of the Being who created him. There is 
no point from which an idea can be formed ; (idea of what 1 
of a form ?) and if with all the various attributes with which 
the Creator is invested, there is but one point from which any 
resemblance could be traced, how utterly-does the mind fail in 
carrying out this connection other than through the whole of 
God's manifestations of himself through his works ! But 
the condition of matter necessary for such an amalgamation 
must be unknown to us as well as to you, for if the identifica- 
tion of spirit with matter were unfolded to your minds, the 
whole mystery of the Great First Cause ivould be under- 
stood.'" (Spiritualism, Section 31.) 

Here we have, very distinctly set forth, the identification of 
God and Nature, or pantheism. The universe is God, and 
God is the universe. We cannot separate the amalgamation 
here, but we may, in thought, distinguish the spirit from the 
matter of God. How, then, does the spirit act upon the mat- 
ter ? 

" When we view Him as a principle, existing in everything, 
still resolving itself into direct and pertinent manifestation of 
the incomprehensible specialties of his nature, we have a basis 
from which we can commence our reasoning." * * * " In 
short God exists as a principle.'" (Spiritualism, Section 8.) 

That is, we have the " Eternal Laws," which are the Soul of 
God, and the Matter, which is his visible Body, the Universe. 
With this doctrine of Swedenborg also agrees the spirit of 



179 

Daniel Webster, wko says : " The poet was inspired when he 
said, 

' All are but parts of one stupendous whole, 
Whose body nature is, and God the soul." 

(Spiritualism, Appendix, p. 396.) 

I do not certainly know the relative rank and authority of 
the sacred books of the new theology, or more properly phys- 
iology, in the ancient sense of that term ; but I infer that 
" Nature's Divine Revelations " is the fountain head of doc- 
trine, from the fact that in almost all the spirit-books and 
spirital literature which I have examined, the essential dog- 
mata, and to some extent the language, and forms of expres- 
sion, are evidently taken from that book. The form and 
shape of doctrine, there, in regard to God ; 

" If shape it may be called which shape has none, 
Distinguishable in member, joint, or limb ; " 

is also that of pantheism, the relation of the spirit to the mat- 
ter, of the soul to the body of the universe being " all various- 
ly " represented. 

" In the BEGINNING, the univercoelum was one bound- 
less, undefinable, unimaginable ocean of Liquid Fire ! " 
" Matter and Power were existing as a whole, inseperable" 
" Matter and Motion are co-eternal principles, established by 
virtue of their own nature ; and they were the Germ, contain- 
ing all properties, all essences, all principles, to produce all 
other forms and spheres that are now known to be existing. 
The great original Mass was a substance containing within 
itself the embryo of its own perfection. It became pregnated 
by virtue of its own laws, and was controlled, guided, and per- 
fected, by virtue of its own omnipotent Power ! " " The Pow- 
er contained in this great Vortex was the Great Positive 
Mind ! — and its development was Eternal Motion ! And 
so Matter and Motion constituted the original condition of all 
things ! " " It was impossible for this internal, invisible, Po- 
sitive Power to exist without Matter as its accompaniment 
and Vehicle. In order that this Matter might assume forms, 



180 

tli o action of the Great Positive Power was necessary to im- 
pel it to higher states of progression. So the Matter, thus 
acted upon, was developed until it became an external Equi- 
librium or Negative of the Great Positive Power internally 
acting upon it. And thus Positive and Negative were eter- 
nally established in Matter." " The universe must be ani- 
mated by a Living Spirit, to form as a whole, One Grand 
Man. That Spirit is the Cause of its present organized form, 
and is the Disseminator of motion, life, sensation and intelli- 
gence, throughout all the ramifications of this one Grand Man. 
Then, again, this interior Spirit must have a Eorm, (the dif- 
ference between' the young and the old Swedenborg here is 
only apparent) through which its attributes may be developed 
in order that it may be called a perfect Organization ; and 
that Form is the expanded Universe." (The Principles of 
Nature, Part ii., or Nature's Divine Revelations.) 

Here we have, as before, the Laws of Nature, as the subjec- 
tive Deity or Soul of God, and the visible Universe as the 
objective Deity or Body of God. Or God the inward, object- 
ive Nature the outward. Or God the positive Pole, and Mat- 
ter the negative Pole of this Grand Electro-magnetic Battery 
the Universe. But is the relation of these two poles of the 
Great Battery literally physical and without volition as would 
be naturally inferred from the language ? 

" What has saved these living worlds from destruction ? 
It certainly will not be presumed that this is done by a direct 
exercise of the will of Omnipotence. * * * It would, 
indeed, be a thankless and laborious work of Omnipotence to 
keep his will perpetually on the rack in order to preserve 
the revolution and harmony of the planets. * * * Tim 
truth is this, the Deity is himself controlled by the same law 
which controls the revolution of the planets. * * * The 
material universe is the physical body of God. The innume- 
rable suns, planets, satellites, are the vital organs of his body 
— the stomachs ! livers ! hearts ! lungs ! brains ! &c of his 
organization. * * * * And the Eternal Mind docs not 
any more control the harmonious performance of these legiti- 



1S1 

mate functions of the countless organs of his hod}', than docs 
man control the circulation of hlood. * * * Inasmuch as 
God is a fact, a Reality, a Principle, it is agreeable with 
science to suppose that he is Substance — is Matter. * * * 
Inasmuch as God is fixed in Nature, like the main-spring of a 
watch, or the heart in the human body, so also is his mode of 
existing and acting fixedly determined by the very fact of his 
being in existence. * * * * He cannot " permit " the 
great procession of Nature to cease, nor the lavs of planetary 
motion to remain suspended ; because these processes and 
laws are the involuntary and uncontrollable physiological, 
mechanical, chemical, electrical, and magnetical processions of 
his uncreated constitution. He did not create these laws and 
processes — hence he cannot suspend, alter, or control them. 
* * * The Lavs of Nature, like Nature itself, and the 
human soul, were not created by the Deity, but were and are, 
the spontaneous atributes of his divine Existence and consti- 
tution. In other words, they are the inevitable and indis- 
pensable developments of the Divine Essence. * * * The 
Divine Essence being the Soul, the Univercoelum is the 
Body. Moreover, the latter is a perfect representative, or in 
other words, is a bold and clear expression of the interior pos- 
sessions of the Divine Mind. * * * Therefore, according 
to scientific principles we are. led to the legitimate conclusion, 
that all the life of plants and animals, and all the phenomena 
of attraction and gravitation, and of the imponderable elements, 
are referable to the Active and Moving Principle called God." 
(The Great Harmonia, iii. 59, and ii. 273, 289, 347, 370.) 

We need not inquire in regard to the personality of this 
God. since the answer can be of no practical consequence. 
We are told, indeed, that " in one sense he is an individual, 
and in another sense he is not an individual." But a Being 
Who, or rather which, in all possible relations, acts involunta- 
rily and of necessity, cannot possess the character, attributes, 
and responsibilities of a Person, in any moral or spiritual 
sense, or be capable of any spiritual relations. This God is 



182 

spoken of, indeed as having the attributes of Justice, Love 
Mercy, Wisdom, <fcc, but " Justice is the equilibrium of for- 
ces," and so the rest are, and can only be, the involuntary de- 
velopments, results, functions, of the Divine Organism, more 
properly secretions, elaborated in some of the " hearts ! " or 
" livers ! " of Its Body. This irreverence, reader, is not 
mine. 

We can understand, now, readily, why it is that " Deity is 
not the legitimate object of man's religion." Certainly, this 
Deity cannot be the object of any man's religion, since religion 
implies spiritual relations. But can anyone conceive of spir- 
itual relations, that is of conscious, or unconscious moral obli- 
gations or responsibility to an involuntary law of Nature ? — 
Nature, the external, is a " perfect representative " of the in- 
ternal, or Positive Pole of the Deity. He is what He is, and all 
He is, by the " inevitable and indispensable developements of 
his Essence ;" so that there is no God " separate from or out- 
side of Nature," or any place left for the exercise of personal, 
spiritual, attributes. However, therefore, men may admire 
and wonder at some of the manifested functions of this " Ani- 
mal itself," however the sensational, social, Eesthetical, sciential 
faculties may find their satisfying correlations ; the spiritual 
can find none, and Religion is plainly impossible. 

" Qua re Religio, pedibus subjecta, vicissim 
Obteritur, nos exsequat victoria coelo." 
But though all spiritists and spirits, for the most part, are 
redolent of " Nature's Divine Revelations," plainly pickled 
more or less in that menstruum, nevertheless, many believers, 
still " in the form " and " unprogressed " spirits, have not yet 
risen to the heights of " the Harmonial Philosophy." These 
evidently are still laboring, to some extent, under the ordinary 
moral instincts of humanity, or the misteachings of some of the 
" mythological religions," or, at least, their language often im- 
plies, perhaps unconsciously to themselves, that they have not 
wholly eradicated their hereditary christian belief that, " God 
is a Spirit," that is, a Divine Personality, all of whose attri- 



183 

bates arc such, and exercised in such modes, as His Trans- 
cendently Free Will directs — otherwise He could not be " the 
object of man's religion," or capable of any moral or spiritual 
relations. But is this God, in his moral character, in the minds 
of the even half emancipated (from the errors of Revelation," so 
called,") spiritists and spirits, the God of Christianity, the God 
whom Christ "hath declared?" Ah! but Christ has been 
misrepresented, slandered, that good man ! he never did " de- 
clare " any such God — the true spirital God is good too ; 
what a going back to mythological conceptions to imagine Him 
as capable of beiDg "angry with the wicked ! ! " Men, indeed, 
in proportion to their moral purity, in proportion to the true 
development of the spiritual in them, are conscious of very 
deep feelings of disapprobation, and repulsion, in relation to 
impiety, vice, crime, wickedness, sin ; in some cases, amount- 
ing to " an honest indignation ;" as where the impetuous Paul 
uses that shocking expression ; " If any man love not the 
Lord Jesus Christ, let him be avads/xa." But this is mere hu- 
man "passion" and " unprogressed " weakness; and to attri- 
bute any analogous emotion to God would be to impeach his 
goodness ! ! and merit the strongest indignation that the spir- 
ital God is capable of ; as witness the unhappy fate of the 
poor parson in " Spiritualism," Section thirty-nine, who, much 
to his astonishment, found himself in the spheres, at the very 
bottom round of the ladder of progression, because, in this 
world, he misrepresented " a kind and beneficent God whose 
only manifestation is smiling on his creatures, by calling him 
angry ! ! " This kind of moral or spiritual relation of God to- 
wards sin ; that aspect of severe and stern disapproval and re- 
buke of moral obliquity, which has sometimes been known to 
frighten weak, nervous sinners, is very unspirital ; it is mere 
terraqueous humanity " unprogressed." " Nature everywhere 
is God's acknowledgment of himself, and is enough to satisfy 
the most earnest longing of all men, if it had not been perver- 
ted by the arts of man and the concerted plans to form a 
Church on earth which should shadow to the world God as a 



184 

spirit, but m reality, personating God as a many (Sweden- 
borg, in Spiritualism, Sec. 40.) 

If such is the character, and '• constitution," of the Deity of 
the New Dispensation ; what, consequently, should be the Hu- 
manity ? The old adage is verified ; •' like Master, like Man." 
The God is incapable of moral relations and the Man is equally 
so. In both, according to the highest authority, there is an 
inevitable development of their Essence under laws which they 
did not create, and cannot control. Man, not having any " free- 
will," is not a spiritual being at all. He is an individual, but 
he can hardly be said to be a person, since personality implies 
" free-will " and moral relations. Animals have not person- 
ality, though they may be personified, and the spirit al Man is 
only an animal on " a higher plane " of intelligence. But I 
have promised to give chapter and verse. 

" Considering the inseparable connexion which is sustained 
between the Universe and the Deity, the whole forming one 
grand System, it is impossible for any rational mind to con- 
ceive of Such a thing as "free-will," or independent volition," 
#.*_*.**« jy[ an j s a p art f this great Body of the Di- 
vine mind. He is a gland, or minute organ, which performs 
specific functions, and receives life and animation from the in- 
terior, moving, Divine Principle." * * * * If it can be 
proved that there are organs in the human form, not dependant 
on the form for motion, life, or existence, then it may be prov- 
ed that man is an independent being, and exercises what has 
been termed " free-will." (Nature's Divine Revelations, pp. 
463-4.) " The doctrine of the free-will or agency of the soul, 
is positively contradicted by everything in nature and man." 
(The great Harmonia Vol. i i. p. 230.) But what is to be done 
with the universal consciousness of mankind on this point, 
which unequivocally asserts moral freedom and consequent re- 
sponsibility ? For the profound logic by which this conscious- 
ness is attempted to be proved fallacious; see Nature's Divine 
Revelations, page 433. There is too much of it for my limits. 
It is enough for my purpose to refer to it. That such an at- 



185 

tempt has been made is sufficiently characteristic of the sys- 
tem which needs it without exhibiting the sophistry itself. — 
Without moral freedom, there can, of course, be no such thing 
as sin ; for would it not be laughable to hear one speak of his 
horse as a sinner. But, " Man is a part of Nature," in every 
department of his being, for his spirit is only rarified and at- 
tenuated Matter, he is therefore, a part of Nature in the same 
sense as the horse or the tree. Moreover, this attenuated 
Matter has been filtered to a pretty high state of purity, for 
" The innate divineness of the spirit of man prohibits the pos- 
sibility of spiritual wickedness or unrighteousness." * * * 
" Sin, indeed, in the common acceptation of that term does not 
really exist." The consistency here is beautiful. " Moral 
death " is a manufactured expression, meaning nothing. Spir- 
itual death is only another form of the latter expression ; and 
it never had, and never can have, the least particle of signifi- 
cation." (Nature's Divine Revelations, pp. 413-14, 521.) 
Now these are what one may call " Divine Revelations," in- 
deed ! and cannot fail to afford delightful consolation to " poor 
sinners," misconsciously such, who find that it was only a 
sheepish and false humility which led them to suppose that 
they were worthy of God's displeasure. 

In ; ' Spiritualism " the doctrines in regard to the character 
of man are essentially the same with those just quoted, though 
less fully, or rather, more guardedly expressed. For, says 
the spirit-Bacon : (page 209) — " We have felt that the ad- 
vance of any opinion opposing the very bais of the faith of 
much of the Christian world, would, before the fact of spirit 
communion being recognized, destroy all that we intended to 
accomplish." They, (that is, the spirits) therefore, speak 
more cautiously, and incidentally, yet indicate, plainly enough, 
the doctrine that evil has no spiritual origin, but arises out 
of the imperfection of matter, and other circumstances, in 
which man is placed, or, in other words, man can have no 
spiritual accountability, because he always " means well." 
They speak of " the evil direction which material connexion 
24 



186 

produces." (p. 145.) " Circumstances control the acts of man, 
far beyond the belief of a majority of philosophers." * * * * 
" The good is there, but the evil is consequent on the thousand 
contingencies which beset man on every side." (pp. 190-2.) 

The following throws light in more directions than one. It 
is the confession of a spirit whose body, it seems, had been a 
murderer not long before, and who, in the language of " the 
Judge," " came to give his experience, as one who had been 
relieved from the evils brought upon him by the present ill- 
organized state of society, and who, through an evil deed, 
(nothing but murder,) had been ushered, into a better and 
happier state than that which he occupied while here," " I 
(the Judge) remarked, that I supptosed it was the force of 
circumstances which had led him to commit the deed for 
which he had suffered ?" " That is it, Judge. That is the 
evil of society." * * . * , " He said that I must not suppose 
he was convicted of a bloody crime, and then sent direct to a 
state of happiness. Oh, no ; far from that. But when his 
spirit was released from his vile body, made so by his evil 
passions, he was led to a spot, and told to choose his compan- 
ions." * * * " My choice, Judge," he said, " was soon 
made, for I never loved evil for the sake of evil, but I was led 
into it by circumstances, combined with my unregulated pas- 
sionsP (Spirit-confession of Tom Jones Section 27.) The 
doctrine of the " old mythological religion " that a man is 
morally and spiritually, wicked and guilty, for the very 
reason that he yields to the force of circumstances, and that 
he obeys, instead of controlling his passio?is, can have no 

place, obviously, in the New Dispensation, because the 

spiritals are not in a " state of probation," but in a state of 
" progression." 

Such is the God, and such is the Man, of the religion 
which, as the spirits inform us, (Spiritualism, p. 227) is to be 
" universal." So let the stale old mythologies pack their 
trunks, and prepare to take leave, in search of more fitting 
disciples ; for, " Many globes, spheres, or planets contain in- 



187 

habitants of far inferior organization to man." (Spiritualism, 
p. 112.) 

The only remaining question of any importance in a relig- 
ious aspect, whether in relation to this world or the next, 
regards the destiny of man hereafter. In regard to this 
world, are men to he restrained by the consideration of any 
" account to give " after death ? and in regard to the next, is 
there any danger of falling under the severe and permanent 
displeasure of the Deity ? and if so, how is it to be avoided ? 
The answers to these questions follow naturally as any other 
logical conclusion from the premises already laid down. The 
case of Tom Jones is a fair specimen of the teachings of the 
(about to be " universal ") doctrine on this point. If a man 
has been unfortunately wicked — and all men who are wicked, 
I beg pardon, "misdirected" are unfortunately so — in this 
world, from the force of circumstances, and influence of bad 
company, what does he deserve in the next but to be placed 
under more favorable circumstances, and in better company ? 
Every man, like the lucky Tom, who was hung in good time, 
chooses his place of residence and his associates in the 
spheres. 

And as taste is not a matter to be disputed about, all must 
of course, be equally happy, since all equally have their 
choice. " The soul is a Cosmopolite amid the eternity of 
worlds. And is it strange that it should select an abiding 
place where it can be most happy ? " " Well, the soul has 
waked up in a new body and on a new earth. ***** 
After the natural curiosity of the spirit has been gratified — ■ 
for under every form of organization the spirit develops its 
desire to learn — it is chosen, or rather, it selects, by the force 
and direction of its affinities, the associates with which it will 
daily mingle, and the neighborhood in which it will reside." — 
(Spiritualism, 123, & 197.) 

True, they sometimes choose very low associates, quite 
vulgar company, and in rather dark places ; just as some 
people select the same sort of companions, and choose to spend 



188 

their time in the low ■' hells " of this world, which, however, 
are quite to their taste — so " unprogressed " are they — and 
very promotive of their happiness. There is, indeed, one 
place spoken of, — the witness, being of the celestial aristoc- 
racy, had not seen it, — which would seem to have been inten- 
ded for a place of punishment — were it supposable that such 
a good God could have the heart to punish the unfortunate 
Tom Joneses, and other " unlucky devils," — rather than adap- 
ted to the taste of anybody, unless it might be that of a 
Laplander. This place is described as an immense plain, flat, 
and without any variety except one mountain. Here the poor 
spirits farm it. But, miserere mei ! such a chance of farm- 
ing ! Listen, — " They toil for sustenance, and as their land is 
sandy, and no sunlight ! (think of that, sinners,) there must 
be great labor to enable the earth to bring forth enough to 
sustain them." (Spiritualism, p. 222.) 

And surely, one would think so ! Try it in the bottoms of 
your cellars, ye despisers of the sunny spheres, and get your- 
selves accustomed to it, for thither, perhaps, leads the next 
stage of your " progress," — unless you can get yourselves 
hanged and so become deserving of some lionizing and pity. 
However, these spirits like the place, just as the Dutch like 
Holland, and as the Vermonters like snow ; it is, after all, 
quite to their taste. Because if it is not, they are at liberty 
to emigrate whenever they choose, and wherever they choose ; 
and from their mountain are to be seen abundance of capital 
farming lands, with plenty of daylight. Besides, they have a 
|;reat many missionaries among them, who kindly describe to 
them the upper country and invite them to " ascend." Hence 
it is plain that they are very well content where they are. 
True, " they do not study," notwithstanding that " under every 
form of organization the spirit develops its desire to learn," 
" th\ey do not sing," they do not write, but then they have 
plenty of fighting, (Idem, ibidem.) — the " innate divineness " 
being " misdirected " — which is as good for them, that is, 
makeu them as happy, as dancing and whist do the aristo- 



189 

cratic spirit-gentry higher up. That is, in short, the doctrine 
is everywhere fully insisted on in the canonical Books, that 
every man is to be happy in the next world, according to his 
own standard of happiness. 

Rejoice, therefore, and be glad, ye cheaters of the ignorant 
— ye oppressors of the weak — ye who pervert the cause of the 
poor — ye unrighteous magistrates — ye bribed judges — ye pol- 
iticians who would sacrifice the good of your country for all 
time to some mean and momentary purpose of your own — ye 
who live in slothful and proud luxury on the bloody sweat of 
your slaves — ye slavetraclers, and dealers, and drivers, and 
catchers — ye keepers of bloodhounds to hunt slaves withal — 
ye drunkard makers — ye patent poisoners — ye profane and 
impious — ye panders to impurity — ye sluggards, idle drones, 
moths in the hive of industry, lazy wretches, who by the nat- 
ural laws of " progress " arrive at the gallows, where you ac- 
cuse " circumstances," and " the organization of society " — ye 
thieves — ye robbers — ye pirates — ye murderers, assassins, se- 
ducers — ye steeped in all nameless vice and crime — ye Burkes 
— ye Arnolds — ye fiddling Neros— ye Katherines — ye Cata- 
lines — ye Douglases — and, sum of all, ye apologists for all 
this and these — rejoice, I say, and be glad, at your deliver- 
ance from the heavy incubus of conscience which the " old my- 
thological religion " had well nigh fastened upon you — rejoice, 
for God loves you right well — do not suppose that he can be 
" angry" He, " whose only manifestation is smiling on his 
creatures," and never more so than when he sees them happy 
in their own way — go on, therefore, indulge your tastes ; why 
else were they given you ? and in the next world your souls, 
being " cosmopolites," shall choose their residence, their em- 
ployments, their company, according to their then spirital 
tastes and find the next world even as this, only much more 
abundant. 

Christian reader, have I drawn other than a just and legiti- 
mate conclusion from the premises ? Are you ready to ac- 
cept the conclusion ? or to admit the premises 1 For what 



190 

are the premises, but the revival of the stale and impudent 
sophisms which the better heathens, and heathen philosophies 
rejected with scorn 1 the same which slunk abashed, for a 
time, before the polished irony of Plato and the quiet but keen 
sarcasm of Socrates ; the same which insulted the very first 
Christianity by asserting themselves to be superior to its doc- 
trines ; and which confirmed their authority by the same 
manifestations as now — asserting too, as now, that the magi- 
cians who produced them were the same in kind as the Foun- 
der of Christianity, but superior to him in skill. (See Euse- 
bius in Hieroclem.) 

But sophistry is of perennial growth, and is not likely to 
die in our time. Are these the doctrines which — but I will 
not insult you by comparing them with Christianity— rare 
they doctrines which — where they have prevailed, as they have 
often to some extent, and sometimes to great extent — have ever 
reformed the world, or which would seem calculated to produce 
that effect ? oh, but if God is represented as all love all men 
will love him ! ! All men will despise him ; and no man ever 
loved long what he did not respect. A view of the Deity this 
as degrading to man also as it is to God ; for who but an 
animal would desire or accept such a Divinity ? What were 
He but a " King Log" for filthy frogs first to croak for, and ' 
then to croak upon ? 

But do not the spiritists and spirits teach morality and the 
love of one's neighbor? Indeed they do — and for what rea- 
son the latter do so perhaps Iamblichus can inform us (see 
chap. xiv. p. 172) — they do indite of virtue and " brotherhood " 
as prettily and sentimentally as young misses are accustomed 
to of friendship. And with such a Deity and Humanity as 
go along with this part of their doctrine, I doubt not " the old 
mythological Devil," were he still extant, would agree to fur- 
nish missionaries to preach it, (at least spirit-missionaries,) to 
the whole world ; knowing as he must, from repeated experi- 
ments, how much the same would be likely to " inure to his 
benefit." For what is morality eradicated from the spiritual 



191 

nature of man and unprotected by the sanctions of a spiritual 
religion, but a flower plucked from its parent stem, to fade 
and wither ; or a plant cut off at the root 1 

Such is an outline of the celestial, say rather scelestal doc- 
trines ; such is the character, in its relations to morality and 
religion of the movement which calls itself " The New Dis- 
pensation," " The New Era," " opportunity not before vouch- 
safed to mortal man," and by other periphrases asserting its 
claim to be the result of hitherto unattained " progress ; " and 
yet, notwithstanding it is particularly — often in the most vul- 
gar and ribald style — abusive of the Bible and all its friends, 
it is sometimes condescendingly willing to believe that its 
predecessors may, perhaps, be found among the best of the 
old Jewish prophets ; and modestly consents to be considered 
a sort of revised edition of Christianity, its crude, " mythologi- 
cal, " unprogressed," notions of the Deity, of man, of evil spir- 
its, of depravity, of sin, and of future retribution, being " ex- 
punged." 

Does any Christian man, not misnamed such, need more 
than to know what it is in order to determine his conduct in 
regard to it ? Certainly he whose feelings do not instinctive- 
ly repel both its doctrines and its practices, has good ground 
of suspicion that his name of Christian is only a baptismal 
one. 

Is not, then, so curious a subject to be examined ? Are we 
to carry our conservatism so far as to condemn all new things 
unheard ? To oppose all " progress ?" " to cry out blasphemy ? 
as the Jews did against Christ ?" &c., &c, &c. There are 
several ways to answer all such stereotype questions " too nu- 
merous to mention," — although I ought not to have forgotten 
to mention Galileo — which are as convenient for any conceiv- 
ably, or inconceivably audacious scheme of wickedness — take, 
for instance, as a second specimen of the latter, the new pseu- 
do-democratic doctrine of non-intervention, which coolly asserts 
that if the stronger moiety of the people chooses to enslave 
the weaker no earthly power ought to interfere to prevent ; 



192 

which doctrine if democracy endorse it cannot fail to stink in the 
nostrils of God and Man — as for the most useful science, or 
purpose of benevolence. That which the moral consciousness 
of mankind has for two thousand years, condemned as impious, 
must be excessively impudent to present itself as new. and 
would not seem likely from its so long and therefore probably, 
correctly established reputation, to be particularly promotive 
of true progress ; yet doubtless, could it be approached by the 
methods of science, and coolly treated exclusively as a matter 
of science, it is very desirable that science should explain to 
us how, and by what laws of nature or of art, of matter or of 
mind, the phenomena are caused. Let it be acknowledged that 
the manifestations are not all or even many of them to be at- 
tributed to imposture, still it is obvious enough that a very 
large proportion of them are explainable by the ordinary, if 
not fully understood laws of physiology and of mind. For if 
we subtract from the sum total of the manifestations all those 
which are the effect of sheer jugglery ; all those which are 
the result of self-deception ; all those which are due to mere 
" hysterica passio," and other ordinary anomalies, sympathies 
and diseases of the nervous system ; how much would be 
left for the spirits to do ? true, if we are to have the spirits 
we may as well allow them to do the whole if they please ; but 
if spirits do so much, ought they not, logically, to do more ? 
For instance ; being, some of them, extremely benevolent spir- 
its, and highly desirous to emancipate the " universal world " 
from the thraldom of Christianity and other old mythologies, 
(See Spiritualism, p. 227.) and to convince us to that end of 
the reality of spirit-intercourse, and of the real existence of 
those gardens and parks in the spheres ; being, too, such rap- 
id travelers that they are as good as ubiquitous ; being em- 
powered, moreover, to read one's thoughts, and other sealed 
packets, much more the daily papers, — why do they not judge, 
if they are as anxious as they profess, to convince all creation, 
accept, for example, Greely's offer, and give us by, the hand of 
Dr. Dexter, the London evening news, to be printed here in 



193 

the morning— if their locomotives require all night to come 
over — and put fairly to rout and to silence the cavils of the in- 
credulous. Certainly, if they are what they pretend, they 
can easily do so much, and beyond all question, if they will 
do this correctly for one week they will make more converts 
than the fortieth Volume of Spiritualism will bring over to the 
new faith in as many years, unless the thirty-nine are to be 
entirely different from Vol. I. Do not dodge the question, like 
a Yankee, by asking another ; as, why Christianity does not 
offer similar tests to those it would convince ; because such is 
not the method of Christianity, which offers spriritual truths 
to the spiritual perception and choice of those it addresses, 
truths which carry their own evidence, and bear their own cre- 
dentials ; whereas, the new dispensation asks no man to be- 
lieve more than is demonstrated, through his senses, to his un- 
derstanding. We may therefore, legitimately demand of the 
spirits all the evidence of that kind which, by their own show- 
ing, it is in their power to give, or at least so much as is nec- 
essary to convince us. Meanwhile, we are obliged to fall back 
upon mere vulgar terrestrial science, or even conjecture, to 
determine whether there are any spirits at all. 

Could science demonstrate to the universal satisfaction of 
men, how all the facts are to be explained by psychological or 
other terrestrial laws of nature, it would be, just now, for many 
minds, no ordinary boon of science. Or if science could, on the 
other hand, demonstrate that the spirit-theory is the true expla- 
nation, it were better than nothing. Yet wdien I consider that 
anciently, for five hundred years, it was investigated by men 
who made it the study of their lives, men who, in many re- 
spects, and perhaps in all respects, notwithstanding the boasts 
of modern self-complacent ignorance of its superior knowledge, 
were better qualified for its full and thorough examination than 
any men of the present time ; and who certainly knew how to 
produce the manifestations to a much greater extent than we ; 
and still find that the result was only the same uncertainty 
25 



194 

and contrariety of opinions as among us ; I cannot help con- 
cluding that we have not much to hope for from science. 

If science could explain it by the ordinary laws of nature, 
it would soon die out, with other nine days' wonders, there be- 
ing nothing, probably, in the terrestrial aspect of it, of suffi- 
cient consequence to keep it alive. True, it makes large pre- 
tensions in the way of curing diseases, by means of clairovy- 
ance and magnetism ; yet, I think it cannot be denied that, 
even without the spirits, it is much more likely to derange the 
nervous system and general health of those Avho come under 
its influence, than to cure those already diseased. For who 
would choose to subject himself or his children to such effects 
as are witnessed at biological exhibitions. But if it be admit- 
ted that it may in some cases, have proved useful, as almost 
any other excitement of body or mind often does, it is so mani- 
festly liable to abuses of the worst kind, that there is no occasion 
to wonder at the ancient dread, and the modern Eastern horror, 
of the " evil eye." But this is a matter which would, for the 
most part, soon correct itself — people would learn to keep out 
of the way of it, or " invoke Nemesis," as of old. It is only in 
its religious aspect and pretensions that it is of much impor- 
tance ; — if indeed, that can be said to have any religious as- 
pect which denies the existence of all spiritual relations, and 
subverts the very ground of all religion. But certainly, only 
in its relation to that • which is religion, could it be thought 
worthy of any very serious notice, much less of the derisive 
irony, the sarcastic and indignant ridicule, Avhich its boastful 
and arrogant pretensions, not so much religious, as hostile to 
all religion, so well deserve, and which, truly is, I think, the 
only style in which a Christian man can condescend to speak 
of it in its religious bearings ; for who of us would not blush 
to ask Christianity to permit itself to be seriously compared 
with such a meagre hashup of heathanism redivivus ? But 
let physical science explain its physical manifestations if it 
can ; let it demonstrate the spirit-origin of its doctrines if it 



1 95 

can. It is plain, nevertheless, that the character of its moral 
phenomena is not to be determined by their origin, or by the 
nature of the physical manifestations which may accompany 
them, or by any rules of physical science, but by the laws of 
morality, and the spiritual intuitions of mankind. Practical!)/, 
then, the origin of the doctrines of the " new dispensation " is 
of very little consequence, except that the incautious may be 
more likely to believe and confide in them if supposed to be of 
spirit-origin. It is certain, that, taken as a whole, they have 
had their origin from some evil intelligence, and they are to 
be judged of and practically regarded, in precisely the same 
way, whether that intelligence is in the terrestrial, or any 
other sphere. Let physical science, then, do what it can, or 
do nothing. We have all the data necessary to determine the 
essential origin of this new (so called) development, its essen- 
tial character, and the science by which to understand and 
judge it in all its essential and important features, facts, and 
relations. The spiritits cry out " Galileo," and accuse those 
who do not adopt their opinions of condemning what they have 
not investigated, and do not understand, and assure us that, 
if we would attend the " sittings " and " circles," " the mani- 
festations " would not fail to convince us of their origin in spir- 
it-agency ; truly ! and what if they should so convince us ! 

Tables move, bells are rung, guitars are played, pencils 
write without hands, people are slapt in the face, young la- 
dies' combs are thrown upon the floor, their hair is dishev- 
elled, and their dresses and persons otherwise treated in a 
very indelicate and unspiritual manner, and all this, and more 
of the same sort, demonstrably, by the agency of invisible 
spirits ; but the same spirits, by various methods, communi- 
cate certain opinions in regard to the character of God, the 
duty of man, and the destiny of the human soul after death : 
— therefore ! ! these opinions are true, and reliable, worthy to 
command the belief, and to guide the conduct of men ! " 
most learned Judge ! a Daniel come to judgement ! yea a 



196 

Daniel ! " is this the logic by which you would have us inves- 
tigate " what we do not understand ? " by which you would 
convince us that the consciousnesses which constitute us men 
in distinction from animals are mere hallucinations ? All 
religious and moral belief resolves itself ultimately into a 
matter of choice and moral election, that is, into the degree 
and kind of moral developmeat ; " he that is of God heareth 
(rod's words ;" and these again depend upon a similar choice 
carrying with it a like spiritual responsibility ; he that hateth 
the light, neither cometh to the light, chooses to remain in 
darkness. 

Let those who choose, or who by the law of affinity are at- 
tracted thither, take their place in the animal sphere, emulous 
of the instinctive virtues and of the happiness of the bee-hive 
and the ant-heap ; seeking as the ultimate earthly aim of 
man, beyond which " Progress " itself can no farther go in 
this world, the recovery of that " Law of Association " which 
-is his inherently, and which, originally, did actually constitute 
and crown his unsophisticated high estate, till, in an evil hour, 
he learned the use of language (see Nature's Divine Revela- 
tions) that fatal invention " for the purpose of concealing one's 
thoughts," and by that learning fell ! ! " Oh, what a fall was 
there, my countrymen ! then, you and I, and all of us, fell 
down !" 

The " New Dispensation," like other epidemic fanaticisms, 
will have its day. For all spiritual truth, or untruth, I re- 
peat, is tentative, and a test of the spiritual state, or charac- 
ter, of those to whom it is addressed — hence false doctrine in 
religion is called aipstfic:, heresy, or perverse choice. And the 
doctrines of this development cannot fail to find their fit- 
ting soil, and appropriate correlation, — in this period especial- 
ly, — when the " auri sacra fames'" has become a wide-spread 
famine — in the minds of vast numbers of men to whom they 
are but the expression of their very wishes. Indeed, if we 
may believe their authors and promulgators, they already 



19T 

meet glad responses from all directions. This is as it should 
be. It cannot be, and we need not wish it to be otherwise, — 
for the character is not made worse by the test that reveals it. 
And in relation to spiritual truth all forms of spiritual false- 
hood are indifferent. To some, even of these, it may prove 
useful to find what spirit they are of. 

Yet I trust that a large proportion of those who are claimed 
as believers, — I have myself been reckoned one — are mere 
investigators of the subject, or persons who are indulging a 
temporary curiosity, already, to my knowledge, satisfied, in 
many instances, — that very many others who reckon them- 
selves believers, are persons spiritually undeveloped rather 
than misdeveloped, and to whom therefore the error may not 
be fatal because not wilful — that many others are carried 
along, or go along, with the movement, without knowing to 
what they are committing themselves, — their attention having 
been absorbed by the manifestations without much inquiry in 
regard to the doctrines which accompany them. To all such, 
and to all others whose curiosity prompts them to a personal 
examination of the subject, as say the spiritists, so say I, 
investigate, investigate, make yourselves fully acquainted 
with the doctrine, and the whole doctrine in its relation to 
religion, and — if you like it, if you deliberately choose it, I 
have not another word to say, " non est disputandum," it is 
not a matter to talk about. But do not be deceived by the 
palpable sophism, that, because you cannot account for the 
phenomena, you are therefore to accept as true doctrines 
which outrage your religious emisciousness. The phenome- 
na of spiritism (let me repeat) should be divided into two not 
merely distinct, but different classes. 1st, The physical 
manifestations — which include not only movements of heavy 
bodies, apparent violations of the laws of gravity, but the 
method, the modus operandi of all intelligent communica- 
tions. These let physical and mental science explain — let 
them demonstrate to us — anybody can theorise — the cause or 



198 

causes of them if they are able i and if the spirits of dead 
men are shown to be the agents in the production of the phe- 
nomena, be it so, we shall have arrived at the knowledge of 
one fact, a fact, however, by itself, of very little consequence. 
2d, The moral or religious manifestations, that is, the doc- 
trine, or religious character of the intelligent communications 
— and it is plain that the religious character of these commu- 
nications, so far as they have any religious character, is not 
demonstrated to be good, simply because it may have been 
demonstrated that spirits are the authors of them, — it is plain 
that the science which has shown us how, and by what causes 
the communications are produced may be incompetent to de- 
termine the character of them as good or evil. This, in order 
to be rightly determined, must he determined by a different 
science, but ivill be determined by each individual very much 
according to his own personal character. 

Let then, those who choose and dare, degra le " The Living 
God " to a " Principle," and themselves to animals, that they 
may escape the moral accountability of men ; certainly Chris- 
tians will not shrink from the high, and — above the whole 
mere nature-sphere of cause and effect — super-natural digni- 
ty of humanity because it bring with it correspondingly high 
and supernatural dangers and responsibilities. At the same 
time, it is not for us to deny that we have forfeited this divi- 
nest birthright ; to boast of our goodness and self-reliance ; 
or to distrust the consciousness which asserts our guilt, our 
weakness, and our hopelessness, except through the "grace" 
of a Divine Interposition. 

Let those for whom it is the highest conception, fancy to 
themselves a heaven which shall be as this world beatified, 
where the senses, the tastes, and the social affections shall 
find their fullest and most perfect enjoyment ; for ourselves, 
let us be content if we may be found worthy to attain to that 
world where they " neither marry nor are given in marriage ;" 
where the physiological and sensuous give place to higher re- 
lations. Let those who need and dare, invite the presence 



199 

and influence of familiar spirits, and take counsel of the souls 
of the dead : for us, it shall suffice, if God take not His Holy 
Spirit from us. Let those to whose character he is correla- 
tive, or to -whose wishes he corresponds, fancy to themselves, 
or find in Nature, a God, who in his moral attributes is far 
below the demands even of the half unfolded religious con- 
sciousness of mankind — as if the stream should rise high 
above its source — a God, who " nee bene promeritis capitur, 
neque tangitur ira," who cares not for our virtues, and takes 
no offence at our vices ; we will still adhere to Him who is ' 
The Holy One, whose definition is also, indeed, The Good, 
but in whose goodness, along with a Divine Compassion un- 
known to those who have mistaken for it the moral imbecility 
of their Epicurean Deity, there is inherent and constitutive, 
transcendent Justice, which, in its relation to Sin, is, and can 
only be " a consuming fire." Let those to whom it is appro- 
priate pay their Nature- worship to the great Productive Prin- 
ciple ; their aweless and irreverent homage to the unconscious 
Immutable Laws ; and melt in sentimental emotion at visible 
beauty, or in poetic gratitude to beneficent Nature : as for us, 
still unto the King Eternal, Invisible, the transcenclently per- 
sonal " I AM," we will not cease to offer, through Qhrist 
Jesus, our love and our fear, become one in Adoration. 



CHAPTER XV. 
" More Last Words." 



While the last sheets of the preceding Chapter were going 
through the Press Mr. ' Dods' Book, " Spirit Manifestations 
Examined and Explained," was put into my hands. 

Perhaps the explanation may be found in the direction in 
which he is looking for it. The theory by which he asserts 
that " the manifestations " are explainable — for it is no more 
than a theory — is certainly not less credible than that of spir- 
it-agency. It is, however, little more than apocatastatical of 
similar attempts of the ancients to explain the same things. — 
Compare what is said on pp. 81-3-4 of Mr. Dods' work Avith 
pp. 102-3-4 of the present volume, and page 101, with page 
106, also page 185, with page 103. The theories are not per- 
haps identical — the difference is mostly verbal — but they are 
about equally explanatory of the facts ; yet none of them 
reach all the alledged phenomena. I would that, for the sake 
of those who are following the lead of the spirits, " in wan- 
dering mazes lost," the explanation had been such as could 
not be evaded by those unwilling to accept any explanation 
but their own. These are the willing, and many of them 
wilful seducers, without whom few would long continue in a 






201 

path which was found to conduct no whither, except to a 
" fools' paradise," 

My own plan, as the reader is aware, did not contemplate 
any investigation of the causes of the phenomena. My pur- 
pose was rather to examine the lofty claims of the develop- 
ment to entitle itself " The New Dispensation," " The New 
Era." " Progress " &c ; and its arrogant and impious preten- 
sions to take precedence of Christianity. 

It may be thought by some that I have made use of lan- 
guage too severe and harsh towards men who, in my opinion, 
are merely in error, and have only adopted an incorrect 
theory. 

The severity, if such there be, was not intended for mere 
investigators of the subject, or for those who are puzzled by 
the phenomena, and know not what to think, or think wrong ; 
or for honest mediums, or honest believers in them, — except 
that I do not understand how an honest christian can be either 
a medium for necromancy, or a believer in its responses, — such 
it has been my main purpose to aid, in all love and sincere 
good- will, in forming correct opinions on so important a sub- 
ject, wherein it is important, that is, in regard to its moral 
phenomena. But if any man can read what I have read of 
the language of the leaders of the movement, both men and 
spirits — •" Spiritualism " included, notwithstanding what Mr. 
Dods says of its handsome treatment of Christianity — in re- 
gard to God, and man, and the Christian religion, without the 
feeling of an "honest indignation" which would scorn to ex- 
press itself as if it found very little to disapprove — truly, such 
a man is a much better, or a much worse Christian than I am. 
And tho' an honest man might be in doubt, on looking over 
the whole shallow blasphemy, whether it were proper to think 
worse of the head or of the heart of its authors, certainly he 
could not think much better of the heart than of the head. 

Setting aside the religious pretensions of spiritism, it is of 
no more importance than the feats of Herr Alexander ; yet it 
26 



202 

is probable that nothing less than the most palpable showing 
of how each phenomenon of whatever kind has been, and can 
be, at pleasure, produced, without the agency of spirits, will 
now silence its claims in that respect among those to whom its 
doctrines are welcome, and who would gladly appeal to what- 
ever authority may seem to confirm them. And even should 
full demonstration of the falsehood of the spirit-theory be 
arrived at, will not the New Dispensation still trust in its 
clairvoyant seers, and put faith in cataleptic visions, and ap- 
peal to its mesmerically evolved divine instincts and intui- 
tions ? Though it rejoices in the patronage of the spirits, 
would it not, without them, and dropping its physical mani- 
festations, still " fit audience find," and that not " few ? " 

Since, then, its moral phenomena, its religious pretensions, 
are neither more nor less reliable, whether they are, or are 
not accredited by spirits, what remains but that its doctrines 
be judged on their own merits, wholly irrespective of their 
origin, and unprotected by the sophism of their source whether 
real or pretended ; and that men accept or reject them accor- 
ding to their moral affinities, under responsibility to Grod, and 
to their own spiritual well-being. So shall it take its place 
among other infidelities, nibbling at the heel of Christianity, 
like its thousand and one equally boastful predecessors and 
allies to be crushed in its turn. 



FINIS. 






CHAPTER I. 

PAGE. 

The Stars, - - 3. 

CHAPTER II. 
The Republics, ------ 13. 

CHAPTER III. 
The Gods, ------- 25. 

CHAPTER IV. 
The Cosmogonies, ------ 33. 

CHAPTER V. 
Fascination, ------- 47. 

CHAPTER VI. 
Vaticinating Waters, ----- 64. 

CHAPTER VII. 
Manifestations, ------ 73. 

CHAPTER VIII. 
Necromancy, ------ - 88. 

CHAPTER IX. 
Theoretic, ------- 99. 

CHAPTER X. 
Differences of Opinion, ----- HI. 

CHAPTER XL 
Elysium, -------- 121. 

CHAPTER XII. 
Heathenism redivivus, ----- 142. 

CHAPTER XIII. 
D>emonopathy, ------ 156. 

CHAPTER XIV. 
Dogmata, - - - - - . - - - 165. 

CHAPTER XV. 
More last words, 200. 



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